The Illinois women’s tennis team made it through its first fall tournament healthy, beginning the season this past weekend at the Deacon Classic, hosted by Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The players were broken up into eight singles flights and two doubles flights. The Illini were able to get a feel for their team, competing against competitors from Charlotte, Dartmouth, Davidson, Georgia State, Indiana, Richmond and Wake Forest.

“The most important thing is that we got a lot of match experience,” Dasso said. “We learned a lot in the sense of the things we need to work on.”

Redshirt freshman Leigh Finnegan returned to the court for the first time since a season-ending ankle injury last year. Finnegan teamed up with sophomore Megan Fudge in doubles play. The pair lost their first match 8-6, but then came back and won the next two 8-0, 8-6. However, the tandem lost its final match 8-6.

Dasso said she was happy that Finnegan was just able to be on the court and play.

“Her being out there alone was a highlight of the weekend,” she said. “She was nervous as heck. We wanted to ease her into it.”

Meanwhile, senior Momei Qu stood out for the Illini in singles play. Qu won her first two matches but then lost her third.

“She always thrives once we get to tournaments,” Dasso said.

Dasso said also lauded the play of freshmen Annie McCarthy and Marisa Lambropoulos. McCarthy won her first match but lost her second in three sets.

“I was very impressed with the way she posed herself in her first college match,” Dasso said. “She had a great tournament overall.”

Lambropoulos won her first match in straight sets but then lost her second as well. She also played doubles with junior Shivani Dave, winning their first match and losing their second. Dasso said it is good to have Lambropoulos around because she brings energy and enthusiasm to the team.

“Marisa has been ready to make an impact on the team since the day she got to campus,” Dasso said.

Dasso said she talked to the team after the first day of play and told it not to worry about winning or losing, but rather to go out there to gain experience and figure out what it needs to work on.

“You are (usually) inclined to win so bad you tend to go back to your old habits,” she said.

Dasso said in the upcoming week the team will drill more and play less matches in order for each woman to work on her weakness.

Consistent with the other tournaments in the fall season, the Deacon Classic pitted teams and their players against one another, however, the matches did not count toward an overall team score.