DURHAM, N.C. – Fighting Illini women's tennis improved to 3-0 on the 2024 season with Friday's 4-1 victory over Charlotte from Durham, N.C. Action took place from Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center at Duke.
"It was an incredible effort by our team tonight," head coach Evan Clark shared. "To be able to dig out of some deep holes and to flip some matches shows you how organized our team is between the ears. We continue to love what we see from this group and are really excited for the opportunity to take on a very good Duke team tomorrow night."
The meeting against Charlotte was the first between the programs, with Illinois now leading the series 1-0.
Illinois' No. 2 doubles tandem of Kate Duong and Josie Frazier earned a clean sweep of Charlotte's duo to be the first off the courts. The 49ers evened doubles play at 1-1 with a 6-2 win on the top court. At No. 3 doubles, Violeta Martinez and Kida Ferrari came back from down 5-2 before falling 7-5 as Charlotte won the doubles point.
On the singles courts, Martinez continued her hot start to the dual season and won 6-0, 6-1 to even the match at 1-1. The sophomore is now 3-0 on the dual campaign.
At No. 6 singles, McKenna Schaefbauer climbed to 3-0 as well after securing a 6-4, 6-3 win. Schaefbauer's win put the Illini up 2-1 in the match.
Next off the courts was Frazier at No. 5 singles. The fifth-year swept the first set, 6-0, before going down 4-5 in set two. She would fire back with three straight games to secure the straight-set win and give Illinois a 3-1 lead.
Heuser clinched the Illinois victory on the top court after dropping her first set. After falling 3-6 in the opening frame, the junior won the next two sets 6-2. Her Charlotte counterpart, Lucia Quiterio, is ranked No. 98 in the ITA singles rankings.
Action on singles courts No. 2 and No. 3 would go unfinished.
Illinois has a quick turnaround with a dual at No. 15 Duke on Saturday. Action starts at 5 p.m. CT, from Durham, N.C.
FULL RESULTS: ILLINOIS 4, CHARLOTTE 1
Doubles:
No. 1 – Quiterio/Teixido Garcia (CLT) def. Megan Heuser/McKenna Schaefbauer – 6-2
No. 2 – Kate Duong/Josie Frazier def. Nakano/Suchankova (CLT) – 6-0
No. 3 – Wilkins/Petruzelova (CLT) def. Kida Ferrari/Violeta Martinez – 7-5
Singles:
No. 1 – Megan Heuser def. #98 Lucia Quiterio (CLT) – 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 – Kate Duong vs. Lucia Petruzelova (CLT) – 6-7 (8), 1-0, unfinished
No. 3 – Kasia Treiber vs. Ares Teixido Garcia (CLT) – 1-6, 7-6 (5), 1-3, unfinished
No. 4 – Violeta Martinez def. Lucia Aranda (CLT) – 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 – Josie Frazier def. Sara Suchankova (CLT) – 6-0, 7-5
No. 6 – McKenna Schaefbauer def. Shona Nakano (CLT) – 6-4, 6-3
Order of Finish:
Doubles: 2, 1, 3
Singles: 4, 6, 5, 1
