URBANA, Ill. – The Illinois women's tennis team defeated Penn State on Sunday afternoon at the Atkins Tennis Center, 4-0. The Fighting Illini improve to 12-11 on the season and 6-3 in Big Ten play, while Penn State falls to 5-14 and 0-9 in conference play.
"We faced some adversity today," said head coach Evan Clark. "It was a 4-0 win, but it didn't feel like a 4-0 win. It felt like a 4-3 win. Tough indoor conditions, you know, it's hot in here. I thought Penn State played well. I thought they went after us a little bit, especially in singles. They didn't make it easy for us to close out any matches. We could have done a lot of stuff better, but in general I was really happy to get a 4-0 win today.
Illinois took two of three doubles matches and never looked back. Louise Kwong and Ines Vias earned a 6-1 win over Devan McCluskey and Bennett Dunn at No. 1 doubles, and Alexis Casati and Daniela Pedraza Novak defeated Katia Blik and Samantha Smith at the No. 3 spot, 6-3, to clinch the doubles point for the Illini.
The Orange and Blue kept rolling in singles play, with Jaclyn Switkes winning the first singles match from her No. 4 position over Dunn, 6-0, 6-1. At No. 5 singles, Pedraza Novak took down Smith, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. The match was clinched for the Illini by Madie Baillon, who earned a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over Jacqueline Zuhse.
"We wanted to bounce back quickly and get another win in the Big Ten and keep pushing forward," Clark said. "We have been really successful in the last 10 matches, only losing a couple, so percentages are with us. We are still playing good tennis, even with the setback on Friday night. I thought they bounce back really well today, especially in doubles. We got the doubles point fairly routinely today, which we haven't done for a while. We got to some pretty good starts in singles. It's a little troubling that we couldn't extend some of those leads to close out those matches faster, and that's something we will need to do better to beat Michigan State and Michigan next season.
UP NEXT
The Illini will hit the road to play at Michigan State on Friday, April 21 at 3 p.m. CT, before returning home to host Michigan on Senior Day. The match against Michigan is scheduled for Sunday, April 23 at 11 a.m. CT.
Illinois 4, Penn State 0
DOUBLES
1. Louise Kwong/Ines Vias (ILL) def. Devan McCluskey/Bennett Dunn (PSU) 6-1
2. Madie Baillon/Jaclyn Switkes (ILL) def. Jacqueline Zuhse/Shannon Hanley (PSU) 4-3
3. Alexis Casati/Daniela Pedraza Novak (ILL) def. Katia Blik/Samantha Smith (PSU) 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 3*
SINGLES
1. Louise Kwong (ILL) vs. Katia Blik (PSU) 7-5, 3-6, 1-2, unfinished
2. Alexis Casati (ILL) vs. Devan McCluskey (PSU) 4-6, 6-1, 4-4, unfinished
3. Madie Baillon (ILL) def. Jacqueline Zuhse (PSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
4. Jaclyn Switkes (ILL) def. Bennett Dunn (PSU) 6-0, 6-1
5. Daniela Pedraza Novak (ILL) def. Samantha Smith (PSU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
6. Grace Tapak (ILL) vs. Shannon Hanley (PSU) 6-2, 6-7 (8-10), unfinished
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 3*
