URBANA, Ill. – The Illinois women's tennis team secured a 2-0 weekend from the Atkins Tennis Center as the Orange and Blue defeated Rutgers, 4-2, on Sunday.
No. 46 Illinois moves to 10-5 on the season with the victory and 2-0 in league action. The Orange and Blue are now 7-1 in home matches this season. No. 75 Rutgers moves to 8-5 on the season and 0-2 in Big Ten play.
Illinois is 9-0 all-time against Rutgers, including 7-0 under head coach Evan Clark.
Illinois clinched its ninth doubles point of the season on Sunday, marking three straight matches winning the opening tally.
No. 3 doubles was the first court done as McKenna Schaefbauer and Kasia Treiber climbed to 2-0 when working together with the 6-3 victory.
Just a couple serves later, Kida Ferrari and Josie Frazier clinched the doubles point at No. 2, earning a 6-2 victory over their Rutgers counterparts. The Illini duo climbed to 2-2 when worked together this dual season.
Rutgers would even the score at 1-1 with the decision at No. 1 singles. From there, Frazier finished off her 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 3 and Xu followed with a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 6 to push Illinois' lead up to 3-1. Frazier led the whole way in her match while Xu battled back from early deficits in both sets. Frazier is up to 6-3 on the dual season while Xu climbed to 3-0 with Sunday's wins.
The remaining three matches would all go to a third set.
No. 5 singles would be the next match decided as Rutgers pulled within 3-2 with the 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 win.
Battling at No. 4, Treiber took her opening set 6-4 before falling 6-3 in set two. She struck first in the third frame and then went up 4-1. Treiber's counterpart pulled within 4-3 before the Illini junior won the next two games to clinch her fourth match of the season for Illinois.
Next weekend, Illinois will hit the road for the first time since February, as the Orange and Blue head to Iowa (March 22) and Nebraska (March 24).
FULL RESULTS: No. 46 ILLINOIS 4, No. 75 RUTGERS 2
Doubles:
No. 1 – No. 35 Megan Heuser/Alice Xu vs. Gurevich/Ngueyen (Rutgers) – 3-4, unfinished
No. 2 – Kida Ferrari/Josie Frazier def. Badawi/Kim (Rutgers) – 6-2
No. 3 – McKenna Schaefbauer/Kasia Treiber def. Karki/Lopez (Rutgers) – 6-3
Singles:
No. 1 – Yana Gurevich (Rutgers) def. Megan Heuser – 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 – McKenna Schaefbauer vs. Amira Badawi (Rutgers) – 6-3, 5-7, 2-2, unfinished
No. 3 – Josie Frazier def. Jackeline Lopez (Rutgers) – 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 – Kasia Treiber def. Mai Nguyen (Rutgers) – 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
No. 5 – Minchae Kim (Rutgers) def. Kida Ferrari – 2-6, 7-5, 6-3
No. 6 – Alice Xu def. Naomi Karki (Rutgers) – 6-4, 6-3
Order of Finish:
Doubles: 3, 2
Singles: 1, 3, 6, 5, 4
Duration: 2:59
Attendance: 146
