URBANA, Ill. – The Illinois Fighting Illini women's tennis squad will host No. 7 Northwestern this Sunday at 12:00 p.m. The match will take place at the Atkins Tennis Center. This matchup will be the final regular season action on the year, and will also be Senior Day for the Illini. Live stats and video are set to be available for the match.
Last Time Out
Last weekend the Illini split a pair of conference matches.
On Friday, they lost a close match to Michigan State 4-3. Singles wins from freshman Kate Duong, sophomore Ashley Yeah and sophomore Josie Frazier were the highlights, but the Illini could not seal the deal.
On Sunday, Illinois traveled to Purdue and took down the Boilermakers 4-1. The Illini first won the doubles point, then got quick wins again from Frazier and K. Duong, as well as sophomore Emily Casati who filled in for an injured Sasha Belaya. This clinched the victory and the Orange and Blue packed their bags to head home from West Lafayette.
Scouting No. 7 Northwestern
Northwestern enters the weekend with a 17-3 record (14-2 B1G) after falling to No. 20 Michigan last weekend.
Earlier this season, the Illini faced off against the Wildcats in Evanston, falling 6-1. Northwestern has won 20 matches in a row and leads the series 26-2.
Illini Seniors
Mia Rabinowitz
Mia Rabinowitz won 47 career singles matches and 41 doubles matches during her time at Illinois. Her 28 singles wins in 2018 are tied for the 10th most in a single season in program history, and tie for 4th most from a freshman in a year. Her career high singles ranking is 69th from September of 2018. Her career honors include 2019 and 2020 Academic All-Big Ten honors, 3x ITA Scholar Athlete, 2x B1G Tennis Athlete of the Week, the 2018 team MVP award, 2019-20 All-Big Ten selection, and the 2018 Fighting Illini Female Freshman of the Year Award.
Sasha Belaya
Sasha Belaya totaled 38 career singles wins and 35 doubles wins during her four years at Illinois. Belaya was ranked 30th in the double's rankings in September of 2018. Her career honors include the 2018 Most Improved Player Team Award, 2019 Academic All-Big Ten honors.
Emilee Duong
Emilee Duong totaled 52 singles and 44 doubles wins in her career in the Orange and Blue. Her 28 singles wins in 2018 are tied for the 10th most in a single season in program history, and tie for 4th most from a freshman in a year. Duong was ranked as high as 117th in the country in September of 2018 in singles, and 45th in doubles in November of 2017. Her career honors include 2020 Academic All-Big Ten honors.
Asuka Kawai
Asuka Kawai totaled 42 career singles wins and 46 doubles wins during her time at Illinois. Kawai was ranked as high as 20th in the country in singles in September of 2019. Most notably, in 2018-19 Asuka became the fourth Illini in program history to earn All-American honors, reaching the NCAA quarterfinals, the best finish in program history. Other careers honors include: 2019 & 2020 All Big Ten Honors including a unanimous selection in 2019, 2x B1G Athlete of the Week, 2x Academic All-Big Ten, the 2019 team MVP award, and the 2018 Brianna Knue Fighting Illini Spirit Award.
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