PALMAS DEL MAR, Puerto Rico – The Illinois women's tennis team opened the 2015-16 campaign at the Puerto Rico College Challenge with a determined effort against the host, fifth-ranked Georgia. All three Fighting Illini freshmen got into the action on the season's opening day of competition.
"Overall, it was an extremely positive day for our team and I am very proud of the way we competed," stated head coach Evan Clark. "This was a great way to start our fall season and I believe it will set the tone for what's to come for our program."
The day opened with the Illini squaring off against the Bulldogs' tandems, each of which are ranked in the top-60 in the nation. On court one, Louise Kwong and Ines Vias faced off against the 16th-ranked duo in the nation, falling by a score of 6-2 in their first match together. Court two saw Alexis Casati and Jerricka Boone come up just short against the 20th-ranked Georgia team of Perez and Gould in a 6-4 decision. On the third court, Clark paired Daniela Pedraza Novak and Jaclyn Switkes, both in their Illinois debuts, together to work against the 51st-ranked duo of Brinson and King. The Illini tandem fell by a score of 6-3.
Despite the highly-ranked competition, the Fighting Illini battled on the singles courts against the hosts, forcing a trio of third sets. Jerricka Boone picked up a victory on court three for Illinois, defeating her counterpart, No 88 Gould, in sets of 6-3, 6-0. Also picking up a victory was Switkes, who tallied her first win in the Orange and Blue. Switkes played at No. 6 singles and won by a line of 6-0, 6-3 over UGA's Patterson.
"Jerricka had a great win over a very good player along with Jaclyn getting a quality win and her first as an Illini," Clark said.
On the first singles court, Casati put up a convincing fight against 29th-ranked Perez of Georgia, extending the contest to three sets. After falling 6-2 in the opener, Casati fired back to even the tally with a 6-4 second-set win. The point winner was determined by a third-set tiebreaker that favored the Bulldogs (7-6(5)).
After winning the first frame in a 6-4 decision, Kwong fell in the final two sets 6-0 and 6-4 to No. 55 King.
Also seeing their first action for the Fighting Illini were Vias and Pedraza Novak, who played on courts four and five respectively. Vias fell to No. 58 Garcia 2-6, 6-5 (retired), while Pedraza Novak came up short against No. 72 Brinson 6-1, 6-4.
"We played some high quality singles matches today and put ourselves in position to win but let a few of the matches slip away," shared Clark. "Alexis had four match points and just came up a little short against a tough opponent. Louise, Ines and Daniela all fought hard, but came up a bit short as well."
The Fighting Illini will face Mercer on day two of the Puerto Rico College Challenge and also the team's second day of intercollegiate competition. On Sunday, Illinois will conclude play from Puerto Rico following action against No. 15 Miami (Fla.).
