UCSB Twitter

URBANA, Ill. - Head coach Michelle Dasso's Illinois women's tennis team will play a pair of matches while in California. On Tuesday, March 24, the Illini will take on No. 70 UC Santa Barbara at 1 p.m. CST. The following day, March 25, Illinois will meet No. 71 Hawaii at 11 a.m. CST.

THE HISTORY

Tuesday's match up between the Gauchos and Illini will be the third all-time meeting. Each side has won a match as the series sits at 1-1. In the last meeting between the two programs, Illinois came out on top of the 6-0 decision in California during the spring of 1999.

On Wednesday, Illinois and Hawaii will meet for the fifth time. The Illini are perfect in the series at 4-0 with the most recent victory coming in the form of a 5-2 decision on the Big Island during the 2009 season.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

UC Santa Barbara finished 8-16 last season after bowing out of the Big West Conference Tournament with a 4-0 loss in the semifinals to Long Beach State. The Gauchos are already out to an 8-6 start on the 2015 campaign.

The Hawaii crew is off to a 5-7 start on the 2015 season and will visit Cal Poly before facing the Illini. Last season, the `Bows finished 11-9 after falling to UC Irvine in the Big West Conference Tournament by a 4-3 decision.

HEATING UP

After opening the season 1-1 in singles competition, Melissa Kopinski won her next six of her next eight matches to climb to 7-3 on the spring. Alexis Casati has opened her sophomore campaign with a 6-4 record, including a perfect 3-0 record in Big Ten play. Louise Kwong has also won six matches to open the dual season. Grace Tapak and Jerricka Boone have both accumulated five wins.

In doubles, Kopinski and Kwong are ranked 68th and have won their last four matches and currently post a 6-2 record on the first doubles court. The duo is 1-0 in Big Ten play with two unfinished matches against conference opponents.

TOUGH COMPETITION

In the ITA's March 17 Team Rankings, 10 Big Ten teams can be found in the top-75. Michigan (13), Ohio State (22), Northwestern (26), Purdue (28), Michigan State (44), Maryland (47), Indiana (52), Illinois (54), Minnesota (63) and Nebraska (63) all made appearances in the March 10 rankings. Fourteen of Illinois' 2015 opponents are currently ranked.

UP NEXT

Following the pair of contests in California, the Illinois unit will head straight to the state of Michigan, where the Illini will face Michigan State on March 28 at 11 a.m. CST and Michigan the following day at 11 a.m. CST.