Match 11: Illinois at No. 13 Northwestern
URBANA, Ill. - The Fighting Illini women's tennis team kicks off Big Ten play on Friday, as Illinois (5-5, 0-0 Big Ten) heads north to take on No. 13 Northwestern (6-5, 1-0 Big Ten). The trip marks the first of five-straight road matches for the Orange and Blue.
Match Notes
- Illinois' strength of schedule ranks second in the nation, according to slam.tennis. Northwestern will mark the sixth Illini opponent that is currently ranked in the ITA top 25.
- Northwestern holds a 52-8 all-time record over Illinois. The Illini last defeated NU on April 4, 2004.
Kawai Earns First B1G Weekly Honor
Sophomore Asuka Kawai was named the Big Ten Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week, as announced Tuesday by the league office. The honor is the first Big Ten Athlete of the Week nod for Kawai and the first for an Illini since Jaclyn Switkes on February 27, 2018.
Playing at No. 1 singles throughout the annual Blue Gray Tennis Classic this past weekend, Kawai picked up wins over two ITA-ranked opponents, including No. 40 Emma Davis from Wake Forest (6-3, 3-6, 6-2) and No. 36 Felicity Maltby from Texas Tech (6-4, 3-6, 6-1). The Palatine, Ill., native also paired up with fellow-sophomore Mia Rabinowitz to earn doubles victories over both Alabama's Selim/Gintrand (6-2) and Texas Tech's Sella/Peet (6-3).
Blue Gray Classic
Illinois placed fourth at the annual Blue Gray National Tennis Classic, held in Montgomery, Alabama. The Illini got started with a quick 4-1 victory over Alabama in round one but came up short to both Wake Forest (5-2) and Texas Tech (4-2) to wrap up the weekend.
Illinois in the ITA Rankings
The Fighting Illini women's tennis team appears at No. 26 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. Prior to the Blue Gray Classic, Illinois sat at No. 22.
Belaya/Novak Back in Doubles Rankings
The doubles pair of Sasha Belaya and Daniela Pedraza Novak made its way back into the ITA rankings last week, checking in at No. 60. The tandem, which has played nine of 10 matches at No. 1 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 1-5 on the year.
Home Sweet Home
The Fighting Illini women's tennis team turned in a perfect 4-0 homestand in early February, which featured 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.
Tough Early Stretch
The Illini have competed against five teams ranked in the top 25 in the country during the first two months of the season. Duke checks in at No. 3 in the most recent ITA rankings, followed by Kansas at No. 7, Virginia at No. 20, Texas Tech at No. 23 and Texas A&M at No. 24.
Illinois' strength of schedule currently ranks second in the nation, according to slam.tennis.
Follow the Illini
Stay tuned to FIGHTINGILLINI.com for all the latest information on Fighting Illini Women's Tennis. Use @IlliniWTennis to follow the Orange and Blue on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for complete coverage.
