URBANA, Ill. – The Illinois women's tennis team will kick off their 2021 Big Ten Schedule this weekend traveling to Iowa City, Iowa, and Lincoln, Neb., to take on Iowa and Nebraska. The Illini will take on the Hawkeyes at 3:00 p.m. CT on Friday, February 12 and then make the trip to face the Cornhuskers at 11:00 a.m. CT on Sunday, February 14. These dual matches will be Illinois' first action recorded with a team score following back-to-back weekends of singles and doubles matches at the Purdue Invitational and the Illinois Invitational.

LAST TIME OUT

Last weekend the Illini battled against the women of Purdue and Indiana in the Illinois Invitational. Between action on Friday and Sunday Illinois was victorious in ten of the thirteen singles matches played. They were led by dominant performances by freshman Kate Duong and senior Emilee Duong, each posting a 4-1 overall record for the event, singles and doubles matches combined.

The results from this event, as well as the results from the previous weekend at the Purdue Invitational will only count toward individual's overall records. This weekend's matches will count for Big Ten records and team scores.

SCOUTING IOWA

The Hawkeyes are 0-2 on the year, falling to Texas and Arizona State at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Austin, Tex. on January 23-24. They traveled to West Lafayette the weekend of January 31 alongside the Illini, and when the two squared off Iowa swept the three doubles matches and the teams split the singles.

Freshman Alexa Noel is currently ranked No. 97 in singles by the ITA and did not lose a singles match in the preseason (6-0).

In Illinois' last ten matchups against the Hawkeyes, they are 8-2 including a four-match win streak going into Friday's action. Last year's contest between the two squads was canceled due to COVID-19.

SCOUTING NEBRASKA

The Cornhuskers have not yet played a match that counts towards their record. They traveled to Madison, Wisc. last weekend to play in the Wisconsin Invitational against Iowa, Minnesota and host Wisconsin.

Illinois has won five out of the last eight matchups with the Cornhuskers. Most recently, Nebraska defeated the Illini on April 2, 2017. The teams were scheduled to play in 2020 but the match was canceled due to COVID-19.

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