TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Illinois women's tennis team's comeback fell just short on Saturday (January 29) as the Illini dropped a 4-3 decision to No. 18 Florida State in the opening match of the ITA Kickoff Weekend at the FSU Indoor Tennis Facility.
"I am so proud of the gutsy performance by our team today," said head coach Evan Clark. "It was a heartbreaker for sure but credit to Florida State being better down the stretch. We will learn a ton from this experience and will better from it. Great teams bounce back quickly and that's what we will look to do tomorrow."
After dropping the doubles point, the Illini (4-2) quickly tied things up with a default win at No. 6 singles due to FSU (3-0) only competing with five players.
The Seminoles then took the next two points as sophomore Kate Duong fell to No. 22-ranked Petra Hule, 6-4, 7-5, on court one, before freshman Megan Heuser dropped a 7-6 (6), 7-5 match to Vic Allen at No. 4 singles.
Down but not out, the Illini fought back as junior Josie Frazier earned a come-from-behind 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win against Anna Arkadianou on court three, followed by classmate Ashley Yeah storming back to take her match over Lesedi Jacobss at No. 2 singles, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-0. All eyes then turned to court five as freshman Kasia Treiber forced a third set, before falling 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to Kianah Motosono.
Next Up
Illinois continues ITA Kickoff play with a 10 a.m. CT match against Florida International on Sunday (January 30) in Tallahassee, Fla.
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