CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Head coach Michelle Dasso took a team of four Illini to compete at the USTA Clay Court Invitational in Orlando, Florida. A round each of singles and doubles competition took place on the first day of the event hosted by Florida State University.

Starting the day off for the orange and blue was senior duo Melissa Kopinski and Julia Jamieson. The tandem faced off against USF's Garrido-Rivas/Bessonova combination but fell short in the 8-7(1) decision to be eliminated from the "A" doubles bracket.

In other doubles competition Louise Kwong and Alexis Casati received a first-round bye after being seeded as one of the "B" bracket's top four pairs. The Illini will see their first action of the event on Friday against Clemson's Eidukonyte and Ruiz team at 2:30 CT.

Kwong notched Illinois' lone victory on the day when she topped USF's Vera Bessanova 6-3, 6-2. The sophomore will advance to Friday's 8:30 a.m. CT match against Northwestern's Lon Sze Leung in the "B" singles bracket.

Sophomore Alexis Casati matched up against Clemson's fifth-seeded Tristen Dewar in a contest featured on ESPN3. Casati grabbed an early lead after taking the first set 6-0 but was unable to hold up as Dewar won the final two sets 6-3 and 7-5 in the "A" bracket.

"Louise obviously played well picking up a win but the highlight of the day was Casati despite coming up just short 7-5 in the third set." Head coach Michelle Dasso said. "Lex's match was aired on ESPN3, on center court, with music playing the entire match, and 80-degree weather. It was big time tennis with plenty of exciting, lengthy no-add points. Lex woke up this morning not feeling particularly well and she battled through and did not show her opponent once she was feeling queasy. That is a sign of a mentally strong athlete."

Kopinski was also placed in the "A" singles bracket and met Virginia Tech's Elena Cerezo-Codina in the first round of action. The senior took the first set 6-2 but Cerezo-Codina came back to win the next two sets 6-1 and 6-4.

Illinois' other senior, Julia Jamieson, drew one of the "B" brackets top seeds in the University of Miami's Wendy Zhang. Jamieson fell 6-2, 6-0 in the contest.

More information can be found on the tournament website http://www.seminoles.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&SPSID=917069&SPID=157121&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=209717376&DB_OEM_ID=32900 . Updates will be available on Twitter: @IlliniWTennis and Facebook: https:www.facebook.com/IlliniWTennis.