Match 12 and 13: Illinois at Indiana, Purdue
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini women's tennis team travels to the state of Indiana this weekend for two matches against Big Ten opponents. On Friday, Illinois arrives in Bloomington for a match against the Hoosiers before concluding the weekend in West Lafayette against Purdue on Saturday.
Match Notes
- The Illini have won 10-straight matches against Indiana. The Hoosiers last beat Illinois on April 12, 2008 (4-3).
- Illinois and Purdue are tied 31-31 in the all-time series, with the Illini winning the last three.
- The Illini have competed against five teams ranked in the top 25 in the country during the first few months of the season. Duke checks in at No. 3 in the most recent ITA rankings, followed by Kansas at No. 12, Northwestern at No. 13, Texas A&M at No. 21 and Virginia at No. 25.
Kawai Earns Back-to-Back B1G Weekly Honors
For the second-straight week, fighting Illini sophomore Asuka Kawai has been named the Big Ten Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week, as announced Tuesday by the league office. Kawai is the first Illini women's tennis athlete to earn the honor in back-to-back weeks.
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). Kawai 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).
After a strong performance at the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic last month, Kawai continued her stellar play at No. 13 Northwestern on Friday, as the Palatine, Ill., native defeated No. 30 Clarissa Hand, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, to mark her third-straight singles victory over a top-40 ITA ranked opponent. Paired with Rabinowitz, Kawai also added a doubles victory, as the two took down NU's Pozo/Doshi, 6-2.
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 (4-3) and Texas Tech (4-2) to wrap up the weekend.
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.
Illinois in the ITA Rankings
The Fighting Illini women's tennis team appears at No. 31 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.
After a stellar run of three-straight wins over ITA-ranked opponents at No. 1 singles, sophomore Asuka Kawai sits at No. 57 in the rankings, a career best.
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