Illinois women’s tennis makes impressive return to Wahoowa Invite
Senior Ashley Yeah readies to hit the ball during her match against Rutgers on March 27. Yeah was one of four Illinois women’s tennis players to attend the Wahoowa Invite in Virginia this past weekend.
September 19, 2022
Illinois women’s tennis opened its season this past weekend at the Wahoowa Invite in Charlottesville, Vir., Hosted by No. 5 Virginia, Illinois also faced off against opponents from No. 6 NC State, No. 14 Auburn, No. 42 Princeton and No. 74 LSU. The Illini earned an impressive 10-2 record in singles along with winning five of their six doubles matches for an overall record of 15-3.
This year’s outing was much more successful than the Illini’s previous trip to the Wahoowa Invite, where they won 15 of their 41 matches.
Four of the eight Illinois women’s tennis players attended the invite: seniors Josie Frazier and Ashley Yeah, junior Kate Duong and sophomore Megan Heuser.
Illinois saw standout performances across the board with each competitor winning more matches than they lost. The doubles duo of Frazier and Yeah went undefeated, while Heuser and Duong lost just one match. Both Heuser and Yeah went undefeated in singles matches, while Duong and Frazier dropped just one match each.
The Illini went undefeated in their first day of the invitational, winning four singles matches and two doubles matches against opponents from LSU.
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The second day of the invitation saw just one Illinois loss against opponents from Virginia, with three singles wins and two doubles wins. The Illini faced off against two highly ranked opponents in singles, with Duong falling to No. 18 Natasha Subhash and Yeah pulling out an impressive singles win over No. 35 Julia Adams.
In the third and final day of competition, Illinois faced off against competitors from Princeton, Auburn, NC State, and Virginia. The Illini won three singles matches and one doubles match as they suffered their first and only doubles loss of the competition.
Despite the smaller sample size, Illinois’ improvements from just three years ago can be seen, winning the same amount of matches as three years ago, while participating in 23 fewer matches. This showing is sure to set the tone for Illinois moving forward as they look to make a return to the NCAA tournament this spring.
Illinois will see its first home action of the season this Saturday as Illinois hosts the UTR College Circuit at Atkins Tennis Center.
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