URBANA, Ill. – With two matches left in the regular season, Illinois Women's Tennis is set to take on Michigan State at the Atkins Tennis Center followed by a trip up to Ann Arbor to face No. 10 Michigan this weekend. UI and Michigan State will square off on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. CT. Then on Sunday, April 24, the Fighting Illini will take on the Wolverines at their home courts with the first serve lined up for 2 p.m. CT.
HISTORY AGAINST THE SPARTANS & THE WOLVERINES
Michigan holds the advantage over Illinois, owning a 30-11 all-time record over the Fighting Illini. During the 2015 dual slate, Illinois lost to the Wolverines in Ann Arbor 1-6. Illinois and the Wolverines have met at least once every season since the 1981-82 campaign. Michigan enters the final weekend of the regular season at 9-0 in conference play.
UI is searching for its first win over MSU since the 2012-13 season, when the Fighting Illini took the 6-1 decision. In the most recent meeting during the 2015 season, the Spartans took down Illinois by a 4-3 decision in East Lansing at the MSU indoor facility. Michigan State enters the weekend with a 12-9 record in spring play, including a 4-5 mark in league contests.
IN THE RANKINGS
In the most recent rankings, the Fighting Illini moved to No. 54 following their split results at No. 5 Ohio and Penn State last weekend. Individually, Louise Kwong ranks at No. 112 in the latest singles rankings. Kwong is also ranked on the doubles side along with her doubles partner, Ines Vias. The pair ranks 45th in the current poll.
Michigan's Kate Fahey ranks 69th, while Brienne Minor comes in at No. 18 and Ronit Yurvsky broke into the top 15 in the most recent individual rankings. The Wolverines are ranked No. 10 as a team. Additionally, Michigan owns a pair of ranked doubles tandems in Minor and Mira Ruder-Hook (No. 17) as well as Fahey and Minor (No. 41).
The Spartans own one ranked doubles team in Erin Faulkner and Allie Baer, who earned the No. 60 spot.
ILLINI DOUBLES DOMINANCE
As a team, Illinois has claimed the doubles point in 16 of the season's 20 matches. The Orange and Blue combine for a 37-13 record in doubles play this dual season with nine contests going unfinished. In Big Ten play, Illinois has combined for a 16-6 reading across doubles matches.
At No. 1 doubles, Illinois has combined for an impressive 15-3 record. Two of the three losses have come to tandems ranked No. 7 and No. 32.
Kwong and Vias lead the Orange and Blue with an overall record of 22-7 on the doubles courts, including an 8-1 mark in league play.
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