PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 34 Fighting Illini tennis got back on track with a 5-0 sweep at Rutgers on Friday afternoon. In the outdoor match from Piscataway High School, Illinois picked up its fifth Big Ten win of the season.
With the win, Illinois climbed to 14-6 on the season including a 5-1 record in Big Ten play. Rutgers moves to 9-7 overall and 0-5 with Friday's loss.
Working with their best ranking of the season for the first time, Kate Duong and Megan Heuser earned a 6-3 win on the top doubles court. The duo has now won 13-straight matches and owns a 22-3 overall record, 13-1 dual mark and 5-0 reading in Big Ten play.
At No. 2 doubles, Josie Frazier and Emily Casati led 1-0 and 2-1 but after Rutgers knotted the match at 2-2, the Scarlet Knights took the decision, 6-2. Illinois would win the doubles point as Kasia Treiber and Violeta Martinez came from behind for a 7-5 victory. The duo trailed 4-5 before winning the last three games in their first time working together.
The Illini have now won five-straight doubles points on the season and are up to 12 overall.
On the singles courts, UI won 5-of-6 first sets and claimed all five second sets that finished. Four Illini closed out wins just moments from each other with the order of finish going Heuser (No. 3), Frazier (No. 4), Martinez (No. 6) and No. 73 Ashley Yeah (No. 2).
After earning a 6-1 first-set win, Heuser briefly trailed 1-2 before winning five of the final six sets for a 6-4 second-set win. Heuser improves to 13-8 overall and 3-0 in Big Ten play.
Frazier secured a 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 4 singles. She's up to 12-9 overall on the season and 4-1 in B1G action.
Martinez closed out a 6-3, 6-3 decision at No. 6 singles to clinch the Illini victory. Seconds later, Yeah finished her win at No. 2 singles by a 6-2, 7-5 score for the 5-0 Illinois win.
Martinez' win was the first B1G win over her career and moves her to 5-2 overall. Yeah climbs to 15-9 on the season and is now 4-2 in league action.
Duong and Treiber would both go unfinished at No. 1 and 5, respectively.
Illinois closes out the Easter Weekend road trip with a visit to No. 56 Maryland on Sunday. First serve is slated for 10 a.m. CT.
RESULTS:Â NO. 34 ILLINOIS 5, RUTGERS 0
Doubles:
No. 1 – No. 15 Kate Duong/Megan Heuser def. Lopez/Valitova (RU) – 6-3
No. 2 – Badawi/Chilton (RU) def. Josie Frazier/Emily Casati – 6-2
No. 3 – Kasia Treiber/Violeta Martinez def. Nguyen/Kim (RU) – 7-5
Singles:
No. 1 – Kate Duong vs. Jackie Lopez (RU) – 6-0, 6-5 unfinished
No. 2 – No. 73 Ashley Yeah def. Tara Chilton (RU) – 6-2, 7-5
No. 3 – Megan Heuser def. Amira Badawi (RU) – 6-1, 6-4
No. 4 – Josie Frazier def. Arina Valitova (RU) – 6-1, 6-3
No. 5 – Kasia Treiber vs. Mai Nguyen (RU) – 3-6, 6-4, 0-1 unfinished
No. 6 – Violeta Martinez def. Daira Cardenas (RU) – 6-3, 6-3
Order of Finish:
Doubles: 1, 2, 3
Singles: 3, 4, 6, 2
Length: 2:26
