MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Fighting Illini women's tennis closed the 75th Annual Blue Gray Tennis Classic with a third-place finish after earning wins over Alabama and Arizona from Montgomery, Ala. With the 2-1 weekend, No. 32 Illinois climbed to an 8-4 record on the season.
Kida Ferrari delivered a 3-0 weekend on the singles courts while No. 31-ranked Kate Duong and Megan Heuser went 2-0 in doubles (doubles not played against Alabama).
Illinois opened the day by finishing its dual against No. 38 Wake Forest after playing doubles on Friday. Ferrari evened the match at 1-1 with a 6-2, 6-0 victory. The Demon Deacons would win the next three singles decisions on courts 2, 5 and 3 to clinch the match at 4-1.
The loss to Wake Forest snapped a five-match winning streak for the Illini. All four of UI's losses this season have come to an ACC opponent. Wake Forest would ultimately win the title at the Blue Gray Classic.
The Fighting Illini closed the weekend outing with a come-from-behind win over No. 31 Arizona, 4-3.
Illinois clinched the doubles point thanks to wins at No. 1 and No. 3 over the Wildcats. Duong and Heuser took down their Arizona counterparts 6-2 while Ashley Yeah and Violeta Martinez won 6-4.
Arizona claimed the first two singles decisions to go up 2-1 in the third-place match. Those victories came in straight sets on the top two courts.
From there, Kasia Treiber evened the match with a straight-set win at No. 4 singles. After dropping the opening frame, Ferrari battled back with a pair of 6-1 wins to give Illinois a 3-2 lead. Arizona knotted the match one more time at 3-3 with a win at No. 3 singles.
In her first singles action of the weekend, Violeta Martinez earned a 7-6(3), 6-3 win at No. 6 to secure the match for Illinois. The decision marked the first time she'd clinched a win for the Illini.
The Illini are back in action on Friday, March 10 at Northwestern to resume Big Ten play.
FULL RESULTS: Â NO. 38 WAKE FOREST 4, NO. 32 ILLINOIS 1
Doubles: Played Friday
No. 1 – No. 31 Kate Duong/Megan Heuser def. No. 20 Brylin/Killingsworth (WF) – 6-3
No. 2 – Ahmad/Wooten (WF) def. Josie Frazier/Emily Casati – 6-4
No. 3 – Carton/Pate (WF) def. Ashley Yeah/Violeta Martinez – 7-6 (7)
Singles:
No. 1 – Kate Duong vs. No. 39 Wooten (WF) – 6-1, 6-7 (3), 0-0 - unfinished
No. 2 – No. 49 Brylin (WF) def. No. 102 Ashley Yeah – 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 – Killingsworth (WF) def. Megan Heuser – 7-5, 6-4
No. 4 – Josie Frazier vs. Carton (WF) – 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 - unfinished
No. 5 – Pate (WF) def. Kasia Treiber – 7-6 (5), 6-2
No. 6 – Kida Ferrari def. Lynch (WF) – 6-2, 6-0
Order of Finish:
Doubles: 1, 2, 3
Singles: 6, 2, 5, 3
FULL RESULTS: Â NO. 32 ILLINOIS 4, NO. 31 ARIZONA 3
Doubles:
No. 1 – No. 31 Kate Duong/Megan Heuser def. Fry/Ziouti (ARIZ) – 6-2
No. 2 – Josie Frazier/Emily Casati vs. Carter/Wilkins (ARIZ) – 5-3 - unfinished
No. 3 – Ashley Yeah/Violeta Martinez def. Nevenhoven/Castillo (ARIZ) – 6-4
Singles:
No. 1 – Ziouti (ARIZ) def. Kate Duong – 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 – Carter (ARIZ) def. No. 102 Ashley Yeah 6-0, 7-6 (6)
No. 3 – Castillo (ARIZ) def. Josie Frazier – 7-5, 6-3
No. 4 – Kasia Treiber def. Wilkins (ARIZ) – 7-6 (3), 6-3
No. 5 – Kida Ferrari def. Fry (ARIZ) – 2-6, 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 – Violeta Martinez def. Narendran (ARIZ) – 7-6 (3), 6-3
Order of Finish:
Doubles: 1, 3
Singles: 1, 2, 4, 5, 3, 6
