University of Illinois
Alabama
No. 22 Illinois Opens Blue Gray Classic Against Alabama Friday
February 21, 2019 | Women's Tennis
Blue Gray National Tennis Classic
| Date | Friday vs. Alabama - 9:00 am | Friday - TBD | Saturday - TBD |
| Location | Montgomery, Alabama |
| Live Links | Scoring |
| 2019 Information | Season Stats | Match Notes | Record Book | Bracket |
URBANA, Ill. - A year after winning the event, the 22nd-ranked Fighting Illini women's tennis team will head to Montgomery, Alabama, to compete in the 71st annual Blue Gray National Tennis Classic. Playing as the No. 2 seed, Illinois will face the Alabama Crimson Tide (9-1) at 9 a.m. CT in Lagoon Park. Auburn, Fresno State, No. 13 Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Wake Forest and Yale round out the eight-team field.
Match Notes
- The Illini are on a four-match win streak, having picked up wins over Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas A&M and Baylor at home in the last two weeks.
- Illinois will look for its first win against Alabama in program history, as the Crimson Tide lead the all-time series 7-0.
- The Orange and Blue defeated Yale (4-1), Auburn (4-3) and Wake Forest (4-3) a year ago to claim the tournament title.
So far this spring season, Alabama owns a 9-1 record, including an impressive six shutouts. Senior No. 62 Andie Daniell leads the Tide in the No. 1 position with a 5-2 singles record, and a 5-0 doubles mark with partner sophomore Moka Ito. Junior Alba Cortina Pou boasts an 8-0 record in singles, while junior Kimberly Gintrand stands at 5-0.
Home Sweet Home
Illinois just wrapped up a four-match homestand with wins over Notre Dame (4-3), Oregon (4-3), Texas A&M (4-3) and Baylor (6-1). Illinois was led by sophomore Mia Rabinowitz, who went undefeated in both singles and doubles play.
Fellow-sophomore Sasha Belaya also went 3-1 in singles play, highlighted by a 6-0, 6-0 sweep over Oregon's Taryn Fujimori.
Illinois Ranked No. 22 in ITA Rankings
The Fighting Illini women's tennis team appears at No. 22 in the most recent ITA Tennis rankings. After beginning the season ranked No. 21 in the preseason rankings, and eventually moving up to No. 18, the Illini had three tough losses against top-20 teams to knock them out of the rankings.
Belaya/Novak Back in Doubles Rankings
The doubles pair of Sasha Belaya and Daniela Pedraza Novak made its way back into the ITA rankings this week, checking in at No. 60. The tandem, which has played all seven matches at number one doubles for the Illini, picked up its first victory of the season against No. 54 Goldsmith/Makarova of Texas A&M (7-5) and holds a record of 1-3 on the year.
Tough Early Stretch
The Illini have competed against three teams ranked in the top 20 in the country during the first month of the season. Duke checks in at No. 3 in the most recent ITA rankings, followed by Kansas at No. 8 and Virginia and No. 14.
Illinois' strength of schedule currently ranks fourth in the nation, according to slam.tennis.
