CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Fighting Illini women's tennis hits the road for its first dual matches away from home during the 2024 campaign. Illinois will face Charlotte on Friday, Jan. 19 at 5 p.m. CT, and No. 15 Duke on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 5 p.m. Both matches will take place at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center in Durham, North Carolina.
LAST TIME OUT
On Sunday, Jan. 14, Illinois picked up two wins to open the season. First, the Illini earned a 6-1 Braggin' Rights win over Missouri before sweeping Eastern Illinois, 7-0, later that afternoon. Violeta Martinez clinched both matches for the Orange and Blue as UI won 15 of 17 completed singles and doubles matches on the day.
Martinez, Megan Heuser, and McKenna Schaefbauer each went 2-0 in singles matches on the day.
ILLINI VS. THE FIELD
Illinois and Charlotte will meet for the first time in program history on Friday.
The Illini are 1-7 all-time against Duke.
ILLINI NOTES
Head coach Evan Clark is in his ninth year as the head coach of Illinois women's tennis and holds an overall dual record of 117-77 (.603) and is 58-28 (.674) in Big Ten play during his time as an Illini. Including his time as the head coach at UNC-Wilmington, Clark owns a 148-88 record overall.
The Illini are coming off an 18-10Â season with an 8-3 Big Ten record in 2022-23. The Illini's 18 wins tied the sixth-most in a single season in program history. UI earned the 14th appearance to the NCAA Team Tournament in program history. The last time Illinois made the NCAA Tournament as a team was the 2019 campaign. The 2023 appearance marked the third with Clark at the helm.
Illinois returns six of its eight players from last season, including fifth-year senior Josie Frazier and senior Kate Duong. Additionally, Megan Heuser, Kasia Treiber, and Kida Ferrari return for their junior campaigns and Violeta Martinez begins her sophomore dual season. The Illini welcomed South Carolina-transfer, but Illinois native, McKenna Schaefbauer along with freshmen Rosie Seccia and Alice Xu.
RANKING NOTES
Team
Doubles
Singles
- No. 52 Katie Codd (Duke)
- No. 65 Shavit Kimchi (Duke)
- No. 74 Elizabeth Coleman (Duke)
- No. 78 Brianna Shvets (Duke)
- No. 98 Lucia Quiterio (Charlotte)
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UP NEXT
Next weekend, the Illini will head to Norman, Oklahoma, for ITA Kickoff Weekend. Illinois will face California on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT, and then play either UCF or Oklahoma on Sunday at 10 a.m. or 2 p.m., depending on outcome.
