MADISON, Wis. – In their second match of the weekend, Illinois Women's Tennis fell to a tough William & Mary team that entered the contest ranked 30th in the most recent rankings. Illini freshman Ines Vias and junior Madie Baillon gave the Orange and Blue their tallies on the day with the Tribe winning the 5-2 decision from Madison, Wisconsin. William & Mary improved to 9-4 with the victory, while Illinois moved to 5-6.
Illinois relinquished just its second doubles tally of the season on the afternoon. Louise Kwong and Vias fell in a 6-2 decision to the Tribe's Faure and Nemchinov tandem in the first contest to finish. William & Mary claimed the point with a victory at No. 3 doubles where Alexis Casati and Daniela Pedraza Novak lost 6-4 to Casselbury and Wuenscher of the Tribe.
Baillon and Jerricka Boone were ahead 5-3 at No. 2 doubles when the match was abandoned.
First finished on the singles courts were Casati and Marie Faure at No. 2. Casati fell in a straight-set decision of 6-1, 6-1. Next to finish was No. 1 singles where Kwong was defeated by No. 89 Elizaveta Nemchinov of the Tribe by a 6-1, 6-4 reading.
The Orange and Blue pulled within 1-3 in the match when Baillon topped her counterpart at No. 5 singles in a straight-set decision that read 6-1, 6-4.
UI would not be able to put together another comeback as William & Mary claimed the deciding tally with a victory at No. 6 singles. Illinois' Pedraza Novak lost to the Maria Groener of the Tribe by a line of 6-3, 6-2.
Matches would be played out though, with William & Mary claiming its final point of the afternoon at No. 4 singles where Casselbury took down Boone, 7-5, 6-4.
Vias of the Illini finished the match on a high note, picking up Illinois' second point of the afternoon. Vias claimed the opening set 6-4 before falling by the same margin in the second frame. The freshman went on to win the deciding tiebreaker 10-6.
The Illini have a considerable amount of time until their next match, as they are slated to compete next at the College of Charleston on March 23.
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#30 William & Mary 5, #65 Illinois 2
Singles
No. 1 - #89 Elizaveta Nemchinov (W&M) def. #113 Louise Kwong (Illinois) – 6-1, 6-4
No. 2 – Marie Faure (W&M) def. Alexis Casati (Illinois) – 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 – Ines Vias (Illinois) def. Lauren Goodman (W&M) – 6-4, 4-6, 10-6
No. 4 – Julia Casselbury (W&M) def. Jerricka Boone (Illinois) – 7-5, 6-4
No. 5 – Madie Baillon (Illinois) def. Olivia Thaler (W&M) – 6-1, 6-4
No. 6 – Maria Groener (W&M) def. Daniela Pedraza Novak (Illinois) – 6-3, 6-2
Finishing Order: 2, 1, 5, 6*, 4, 3
Doubles
No. 1 – Faure/Nemchinov (W&M) def. Kwong/Vias (Illinois) – 6-2
No. 2 – Goodman/Groener (W&M) vs. Boone/Baillon (Illinois) – DNF, 3-5
No. 3 – Casselbury/Wuenscher (W&M) def. Casati/Pedraza Novak (Illinois) – 6-4
Finishing Order: 1, 3*
