URBANA, Ill. – Fighting Illini junior Violeta Martinez earned ranked wins on both the doubles and singles courts as Illinois concluded play in the 2025 ITA Team Indoor Championships. Third-seeded and No. 6 ranked UCLA won the match, 4-1.
Illinois moves to 2-5 on the season and 2-4 at home this season as the squad continues to work through its gauntlet of a schedule. The Fighting Illini are in the midst of a nine-match stretch against Power 4 opponents, not shying away from the toughest out-of-conference competition.Â
On the doubles courts, Martinez and Alice Xu teamed up to take down UCLA's No. 30 ranked duo. The Illini tandem took a quick 1-0 lead and would never trail. After the UCLA duo responded to knot the set at 1-1, Martinez and Xu picked up two breaks to take a 5-1 lead and ultimately won 6-2.
The Bruins would win the other two doubles matches at No. 1 and No. 2 to claim the contest's opening point.
UCLA would go up 3-0 after claiming victories at No. 4 and No. 2 singles.
From there, Martinez would get the Fighting Illini on the board with a straight-set upset of UCLA's No. 53 Elisa Wagle. Down 0-2 to start, Martinez responded to knot her opening set at 2-2 with a break of her own. Each side would hold to a 4-4 tie before Martinez would serve for a 5-4 lead and break for the 6-4 first-set win. After going down 0-4 in set two, Martinez won the next six games to secure the upset.
No. 1 singles finished next, wrapping up the evening's contest as UCLA claimed the 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 win to secure the match.
The Fighting Illini squared off against the nation's best across the weekend. In total, Illinois faced five ranked doubles teams, 11 ranked singles players, and the No. 2, No. 3, and No. 6 ranked teams in the country, which included the defending indoor (Oklahoma State) and outdoor (Texas A&M) national champions.
FINAL SCORE: [3] NO. 6 UCLA (4-2) 4, ILLINOIS (2-5) 1
Doubles
No. 1 – No. 61 Megan Heuser/Kida Ferrari vs. No. 9 Hance/Wagle (UCLA) - 7-6(7)
No. 2 – No. 3 Fakih/Center (UCLA) def. McKenna Schaefbauer/Kasia Treiber - 6-3
No. 3 – Alice Xu/Violeta Martinez def. No. 30 Lutkemeyer/Guichard (UCLA) - 6-2
Singles
No. 1 – Kimmi Hance (UCLA) def. McKenna Schaefbauer - 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
No. 2 – No. 17 Anne Christine Lutkemeyer (UCLA) def. Megan Heuser - 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 – Violeta Martinez def. No. 53 Elise Wagle (UCLA) - 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 – No. 56 Kate Fakih (UCLA) def. Kida Ferrari - 6-0, 6-3
No. 5 – Ariel Madatali vs. Ahmani Guichard (UCLA) - 4-6, 7-6(5), 1-1 unfinished
No. 6 – Kasia Treiber vs. Olivia Center (UCLA) - 4-6, 7-6(4), 1-1 unfinished
Order of Finish
Doubles: 2, 3, 1
Singles: 4, 2, 3, 1
Duration: 3:15
Attendance: 182
Played indoors
NEXT UP
With action in the ITA Team Indoor Championships wrapped up for the Illini, Illinois continues its 10-match homestand this coming weekend. Iowa State (Feb. 14) and Baylor (Feb. 15) will visit the Atkins Tennis Center. The Illinois men's tennis team will also host two matches on Saturday to form a tripleheader between the squads.
