Box Score
OJAI, Calif. – Illinois opened the Big Ten Women's Tennis Tournament with a 4-0 sweep of [10] No. 50 Northwestern, marking the seventh straight win over the Wildcats. Additionally, Illinois has now won four consecutive matches and secured its ninth sweep of the season.
No. 42 Illinois improved to 14-11 on the season with the victory. Northwestern moved to 13-13 overall with the loss. The Fighting Illini have now secured the last seven decisions over the Wildcats including wins at home, away, and at a neutral side this season. The West Coast win marked Illinois' sixth win away from home of the year and fifth straight.
The Illini claimed their 17th doubles point of the season, striking first against Northwestern. Illinois has now won the doubles point in its last seven matches.
After dropping the first game on all three doubles courts, Illinois' duo of McKenna Schaefbauer and Kasia Treiber won their next two games and would be the first off the court with a 6-3 win. The Illini tandem pulled away after being tied at 3-3 and improved to 18-12 overall and 17-6 on the dual campaign.
Northwestern claimed a 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles and all eyes turned to the top doubles court. The Wildcats jumped out to an early 2-0 lead but Illinois won the next four games and picked up another break for a 5-3 advantage before winning 6-3. No. 85-ranked Megan Heuser and Kida Ferrari improved to a 10-11 record on the top doubles court this season with the victory.
The Fighting Illini went on to win five of the first sets of singles play.Â
Just like doubles, Schaefbauer was the first off the court for the Illini in singles as well, pushing the Illinois advantage to 2-0. The junior earned a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles, winning her last seven games of the match as she improved to 15-15 on the season with her third-straight victory.
Illinois clinched the win with a bang-bang finish at No. 5 and 6, respectively. At No. 5 singles, Illinois freshman Ariel Madatali trailed early in her opening frame but battled back to knot the set at 3-3 before winning the last three games. In set two, she was tied 2-2 before reeling off the final four games to secure a 6-3, 6-2 win and give the Illini a 3-0 lead. Madatali's fourth-straight win improved her to an 18-8 singles record on the season, including a 10-3 mark in dual matches.
At No. 6 singles, Treiber would pick up her third clinch in the last four matches for Illinois. The senior trailed 1-2 in both of her sets before running out to a 4-2 first-set lead and claiming the final five games of set two for the 6-3, 6-2 decision. Treiber's fourth-straight win improved her to 13-14 on the season and 10-8 in dual matches.
FINAL SCORE: [7] NO. 42 ILLINOIS (14-11) 4, [10] NO. 50 NORTHWESTERN (13-13) 0
Doubles
No. 1 – No. 85 Megan Heuser/Kida Ferrari def. Feldman/Pratt (Northwestern) - 6-3
No. 2 – Jessel/Dagan Fruchtman (Northwestern) def. Alice Xu/Violeta Martinez - 6-2
No. 3 – McKenna Schaefbauer/Kasia Treiber def. Lau/K. Rabjohns (Northwestern) - 6-3
Singles
No. 1 – McKenna Schaefbauer def. Erica Jessel (Northwestern) - 6-3, 6-0
No. 2 – Megan Heuser vs. Neena Feldman (Northwestern) - 7-5, 1-6, 1-1, unfinished
No. 3 – Violeta Martinez vs. Britany Lau (Northwestern) - 3-6, 6-0, 3-1, unfinished
No. 4 – Kida Ferrari vs. No. 107 Sydney Pratt (Northwestern) - 6-2, 1-6, 3-2, unfinished
No. 5 – Ariel Madatali def. Kiley Rabjohns (Northwestern) - 6-3, 6-2
No. 6 – Kasia Treiber def. Mika Dagan Fruchtman (Northwestern) - 6-3, 6-2
Order of Finish
Doubles: 3, 2, 1
Singles: 1, 5, 6
Duration: 2:19
Played outdoors
NEXT UP
The winner of Wednesday's match earned a quarterfinals appearance against No. 2 seed Ohio State on Thursday at 5 p.m. CT.
