Illinois women’s tennis prepares to host Missouri in Braggin’ Rights
Kate Duong celebrates during her singles competition against ISU on Feb. 6. The Illini will be against Missouri on Sunday.
February 13, 2022
Illinois women’s tennis will be looking to extend its home winning streak to five matches unbeaten when it faces off against Missouri for Braggin’ Rights honors on Sunday.
Illinois had a successful outing last weekend, sweeping Illinois State, 7-0, at Atkins Tennis Center. The Illini saw a thrilling round of doubles against the Redbirds, including a comeback victory from the duo of freshman Megan Heuser and sophomore Kate Duong.
On Sunday, Illinois will take on a Mizzou side who currently hold a 2-2 record. Missouri’s two victories came against UT Martin, sweeping them 7-0 and 5-0. The Tigers’ two 7-0 losses came against No. 1 Texas and No. 22 Oklahoma State.
Illinois and Missouri will meet again for the first time in 40 years. In all-time meetings, the two schools have only faced off twice, with Illinois winning both matches. The Illini will have an opportunity to extend the all-time record to 3-0 against the Tigers on Sunday.
“It’ll be really tough,” said head coach Evan Clark following last week’s victory. “Mizzou’s really good. Obviously they play in the SEC, one of the best leagues in the country, and they’ve got a really great team. We’re gonna have to have our best stuff. We’ll get back to work this week, get some stuff fixed and give it our best on Sunday.”
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Despite the dominant victory over the Redbirds last weekend, the Illini were not entirely happy with their performance overall. Duong stressed how “it shouldn’t have been as close as it was,” and despite the scoreline, there were a lot of things the team needed to improve before taking on Mizzou.
Regardless, the Illini have continued to prove they are a force to be reckoned with at Atkins Tennis Center. The team has not dropped a single set at home, and they have outscored opponents by a combined 25-0 against the likes of Harvard, Eastern Illinois, Chicago State and Illinois State. They’ve continued to ensure that Atkins is a difficult place for opponents to get wins, and the Illini will be looking to stay sharp when the Tigers come to visit.
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