The Illini couldn’t decide which was better this past weekend – winning the doubles point twice or upsetting the No. 31 Buckeyes on their home court.

After starting the weekend with a 4-3 loss on the road against No. 29 Indiana, Illinois defeated Ohio State 5-2 to return to .500, but more importantly to make a statement in the Big Ten.

“People should know by now that Illinois is a good team,” junior Shivani Dave said. “In years past, we haven’t been as intimidating, but now every team should be nervous to play us.”

Some of this intimidation stems from the Illini’s recent success in doubles. The infamous doubles point is becoming a strength for the team, although it hadn’t won it in three of the previous four matches.

After struggling to find good chemistry all season, the Illini are now on track with three solid duos. The tandem of Dave and sophomore Megan Fudge has been tough on court one, while freshman Marisa Lambropoulos and redshirt freshman Leigh Finnegan have been strong on court two. Both tandems went 2-0 on the weekend.

“(Megan) and (Shivani) worked well together because Meg got to the net well, while Shiv was strong with her ground strokes from the baseline,” head coach Michelle Dasso said. “(Marisa) and Leigh closed on the ball aggressively and took the net away. When they can do those things well, they will be successful.”

Even with solid performances in doubles, the team struggled to put away the Hoosiers on Saturday. After Illinois’ close loss to Indiana (18-5), Dasso challenged the team to shake it off and recognize that Ohio State (18-5) was a must-win match.

“If I had to sum up what made us successful this weekend it wouldn’t be shots we made, it would be our mental toughness,” Dasso said. “After the girls put everything out there against the Hoosiers and came up just short on Saturday, they came out with just as much intensity to put away Ohio State.”

With new team rankings due out on Tuesday, Illinois’ win against Ohio State will certainly help improve its current rank of 58. The team needs to be at least No. 42 to receive a bid to the NCAA Championships.

The Illini get a week to rest before they finish off the regular season next weekend with two home matches. On Saturday, Illinois takes on No. 73 Minnesota (11-9). On Sunday, the Illini will finish with No. 47 Iowa. Both matches start at 11 a.m.