URBANA, Ill. – The Illinois women's tennis team finished the weekend undefeated, knocking off 33rd-ranked Maryland, 5-2, and Southern Illinois, 4-0, on Sunday. The Fighting Illini have now won four-straight matches and improve to 8-9, while Maryland and Southern Illinois fall to 11-3 and 6-10, respectively.
"What a fantastic day it was today to be an Illini," said head coach Evan Clark. "The girls played fantastic against a really good Maryland team. I was really impressed with Maryland."
Illinois started strong against Maryland, taking a 1-0 lead with the doubles point. Louise Kwong and Ines Vias won the No. 1 doubles match over Alexandra Stanova and Kristina Hovsepyan, 6-2. Alexis Casati and Daniela Pedraza Novak clinched the point for the Illini after they defeated Cassandre Thebault and Arnelle Sullivan in the No. 3 doubles match, 6-4.
Maryland struck first in singles, winning the first two matches. Ekaterina Tour won the No. 2 singles match over Casati, 6-2, 6-1, and Sullivan topped Madie Baillon at the No. 3 position, 7-6 (5), 6-1.
Illinois would win the rest of the points, starting with Grace Tapak's victory over Hovsepyan at the No. 6 spot, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Jaclyn Switkes defeated Kate Yemelyanenka, 6-1, 5-7, 6-1, in the No. 3 singles match, and Kwong's 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Stanova at the No. 1 position clinched the match for the Illini. Pedraza Novak took down Thebault in the No. 5 singles match, 6-7 (11), 6-3, 6-4, to make the final score 5-2 in favor of the Illinois.
"It's great," Clark said. "Maryland is one we circled because they have had so much success already this year. If you look up and down the Big Ten, they are one of the best teams in the Big Ten. We feel good about the start we've got, but we've got a lot of tennis left, that's the biggest thing. We can't be satisfied with what we did today and on Saturday. We have got a lot of matches coming up, and everybody gets up for us in the Big Ten. But we are excited. We feel like we have got some momentum, and we have got a lot of confidence over the schedule that we have played this year. I think the locker room is fun right now. The girls feel good and confident heading into Big Ten play, and I like our chances moving forward.
Facing off against Southern Illinois in the second match of the day, Illinois grabbed the lead early and never looked back.
Casati and Pedraza Novak won the No. 3 doubles match over Polina Dozortseva and Yana Golovkina of Southern Illinois, 6-3. Kwong and Vias clinched the doubles point for the Illini with a 6-3 win over Vitoria Beiroa and Meagan Monaghan at the No. 1 position.
In singles play, Switkes won the first point for Illinois, taking down Athena Chrysanthou in the No. 3 singles match, 6-1, 6-1. Casatie defeated Ana Sofia Cordero at the No. 2 spot, 6-3, 6-1, and Pedraza Novak clinched the match for the Illini with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Golovkina at the No. 4 position.
"We are certainly pleased with the results we have had in the last four matches," Clark said. "Winning our last four, I feel like we have got a lot of confidence. The big one this morning was Maryland. We definitely have some momentum heading into the Big Ten."
UP NEXT
Next weekend Illinois will hit the road to face Iowa on Friday, March 31 and Nebraska on Sunday, April 2.
Illinois 5, No. 33 Maryland 2
DOUBLES
1. Louise Kwong/Ines Vias (ILL) def. Alexandra Stanova/Kristina Hovsepyan (UMD) 6-2
2. Madie Baillon/Jaclyn Switkes (ILL) vs. Ekaterina Tour/Caroline Williams (UMD) 3-5, unfinished
3. Alexis Casati/Daniela Pedraza Novak (ILL) def. Cassandre Thebault/Arnelle Sullivan (UMD) 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 3
SINGLES
1. Louise Kwong (ILL) def. Alexandra Stanova (UMD) 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
2. Ekaterina Tour (UMD) def. Alexis Casati (ILL) 6-2, 6-1
3. Arnelle Sullivan (UMD) def. Madie Baillon (ILL) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
4. Jaclyn Switkes (ILL) def. Kate Yemelyanenka (UMD) 6-1, 5-7, 6-1
5. Daniela Pedraza Novak (ILL) def. Cassandre Thebault (UMD) 6-7 (11-13), 6-3, 6-4
6. Grace Tapak (ILL) def. Kristina Hovsepyan (UMD) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 3, 6, 4, 1, 5
Illinois 4, Southern Illinois 0
DOUBLES
1. Louise Kwong/Ines Vias (ILL) def. Beiroa, Vitoria/Monaghan, Meagan (SIU) 6-3
2. Madie Baillon/Jaclyn Switkes (ILL) vs. Cai, Xiwei/Cordero, Ana Sofia (SIU) 4-5, unfinished
3. Alexis Casati/Daniela Pedraza Novak (ILL) def. Dozortseva, Polina/Golovkina, Yana (SIU) 6-3
Order of finish 3, 1
SINGLES
1. Louise Kwong (ILL) vs. Cai, Xiwei (SIU) 6-4, 2-2, unfinished
2. Alexis Casati (ILL) def. Cordero, Ana Sofia (SIU) 6-3, 6-1
3. Jaclyn Switkes (ILL) def. Chrysanthou, Athena (SIU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Daniela Pedraza Novak (ILL) def. Golovkina, Yana (SIU) 6-2, 6-4
5. Grace Tapak (ILL) vs. Dozortseva, Polina (SIU) 6-3, 3-2, unfinished
6. Jade Hilton (ILL) vs. Beiroa, Vitoria (SIU) 5-7, 1-2, unfinished
Order of finish: 3, 2, 4
