URBANA, Ill. – The Illinois women's tennis team was narrowly defeated by fourth-ranked and No. 1 seed Ohio State on Saturday, 4-3, in the semifinals of the Big Ten Women's Tennis Championship. The Fighting Illini fall to 14-13 on the year.

"It was unbelievable," said head coach Evan Clark. "I thought we played a great doubles point. We talked about the energy coming out, and the energy was right. We really, really played well. We talked about keeping it close on all three courts, which we did, and putting ourselves in position to win, and we stepped up on two courts and finished it off. Really good effort to get that first point, and I think that really helped us moving into singles as well."

Illinois earned the doubles point, with wins at No. 2 doubles and No. 3 doubles. Madie Baillon and Jaclyn Switkes won first at the No. 2 spot over Ohio State's pair of Anna Sanford and Sandy Niehaus, 6-4. The 19th-ranked doubles team of Francesca Di Lorenzo and Miho Kowase of Ohio State defeated Louise Kwong and Ines Vias at No. 1 doubles, 6-3. Alexis Casati and Daniela Pedraza Novak clinched the doubles point for the Illini with a 7-5 win over Gabriella De Santis and Ferny Angeles Paz at the No. 3 position.

In singles play, Ohio State's Di Lorenzo evened the score at 1-1 with a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles over Kwong. De Santis claimed the point at the No. 3 position for Ohio State after defeating Baillon, 6-4, 6-3. Casati tied the score again from her No. 2 spot with a 6-4, 6-4 win over 60th-ranked Sanford.

Grace Tapak gave the Illini a 3-2 lead after defeating 117th-ranked Angeles Paz at No. 6 singles, 6-4, 6-4. At the No. 5 position, Niehaus evened the score once more with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Pedraza Novak. Kowase defeated Switkes, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1, at No. 4 singles to clinch the match for Ohio State.

"I'm proud of them," Clark said. "They competed. Anyone who was in the building saw the effort and the way they competed on every court. As a coach, that's all you can ask. I told them I was proud of them. We have four seniors who have meant everything to this program. We just talked about how much they have meant to the program, and thanked them for all of their hard work in their four years. Everybody was disappointed we couldn't finish it off the right way for them."

UP NEXT

Illinois will await the results of the selection show for the NCAA Tournament, slated for 4:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday, May 2. The show will be streamed on NCAA.com.

No. 4 Ohio State 4, Illinois 3

DOUBLES

1. #19 Francesca Di Lorenzo/Miho Kowase (OSU) def. Louise Kwong/Ines Vias (ILL) 6-3

2. Madie Baillon/Jaclyn Switkes (ILL) def. Anna Sanford/Sandy Niehaus (OSU) 6-4

3. Alexis Casati/Daniela Pedraza Novak (ILL) def. Gabriella De Santis/Ferny Angeles Paz (OSU) 7-5

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3*

SINGLES

1. #1 Francesca Di Lorenzo (OSU) def. Louise Kwong (ILL) 6-1, 6-0

2. Alexis Casati (ILL) def. #60 Anna Sanford (OSU) 6-4, 6-4

3. #94 Gabriella De Santis (OSU) def. Madie Baillon (ILL) 6-4, 6-3

4. #95 Miho Kowase (OSU) def. Jaclyn Switkes (ILL) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1

5. #102 Sandy Niehaus (OSU) def. Daniela Pedraza Novak (ILL) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4

6. Grace Tapak (ILL) def. #117 Ferny Angeles Paz (OSU) 6-4, 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 3, 2, 6, 5, 4*