Unfortunately for the Illinois women’s tennis team, the momentum from Saturday’s victory over Marquette did not carry into Monday’s match against No. 62 Western Michigan. The Illini fell 4-3 to the Broncos, suffering their first loss of the season.

“I wasn’t pleased with how we got down so fast in our doubles and singles matches,” head coach Michelle Dasso said in a press release. “But it was great to see our girls fight until the end. I definitely thought we had a chance today and let the win slip through our fingers.”

Once again, the Illini started out the match by losing the doubles point. Sophomore Megan Fudge and redshirt freshman Leigh Finnegan won at No. 1 doubles 9-7, but the other two pairs lost. At No. 2, freshmen Marisa Lambropoulos and Annie McCarthy fell 8-6 and at No. 3 sophomore Kristina Minor and junior Shivani Dave lost 9-7.

The result of the early stumbles on the court was that the Illini found themselves down 3-1. Finnegan and Minor both lost their singles matches, while senior Momei Qu picked up a victory at the No. 5 spot, 6-1, 6-1.

The team then fought back as Fudge and Dave each won their singles matches to even the score at 3-3. Fudge improved to 3-0 on the season when she beat No. 98 Kerstin Pahl, 6-2, 6-2.

“It’s great to see Megan at 3-0,” Dasso said. “It’s awesome to see her gain confidence after each match. You can always count on Megan; she’s a fighter and she’s going to go out there and give it everything she has. She’s playing some good tennis right now and I think it’s only going to get better.”

But Lambropoulos could not close it out for the Illini. The Broncos’ Norika Saruta fought Lambropoulos on court three as she picked up her 181st career win by a score of 7-5, 6-3.

The Illini will hit the road next as they gear up to face Tennessee on Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn.