Following last weekend’s home doubleheader, Illinois women’s tennis was back on the road this Friday for Braggin’ Rights against Missouri. For the second year in a row, Illinois did not drop a single point to the Tigers, leaving three singles matches and one doubles match unfinished for a final score of 4-0. On top of moving Illinois’ 2022-23 record to 3-3, this win extended Illinois’ all-time undefeated record against Missouri, which now sits at 4-0.

Beginning as always with doubles play, Illinois rolled out its same three duos as last weekend. The lone ranked duo in the match was Illinois’ No. 19 junior Kate Duong and sophomore Megan Heuser, but ultimately the Illini did not have to lean on their ranked duo, as courts two and three wrapped up before Duong/Heuser could finish. Seniors Emily Casati and Jozie Frazier quickly cruised to a 6-1 victory on Court 2, giving Illinois an early lead on the doubles point. Making sure to capitalize on the lead, senior Ashley Yeah and freshman Violeta Martinez claimed a comfortable 6-3 on Court 3 to give Illinois a 1-0 lead going into singles play.

In singles, Illinois rolled out the same six who competed in doubles with the inclusion of sophomore Kasia Treiber instead of Casati. There were only five courts, so Martinez and her Missouri counterpart on Court 6 had to wait for one of the other five matches to end for their match to begin.

If there was any chance for the Tigers to come back when entering singles play, it was quickly dwindling away as Illinois claimed set one on Courts 1-5.

From there, it was a matter of which three Illini would finish first. Court 3 was the first to fall, as Heuser claimed a 6-4 second-set victory after dominating 6-2 in the first set. Treiber was the next Illini victor, who had the advantage of fresh legs on her opponent, sailing to 6-4 victories in straight sets on Court 5. The Braggin’ Rights clinch was applied by Frazier, who earned 6-2 and 6-4 victories on Court 4.

The top two courts were putting up much more of a fight, as Duong was forced into a tiebreaker game in the first set and No. 72 Yeah was getting ready for a third set when Frazier won her match. Martinez, who had started late, was leading 3-2 in her first set when Illinois won the match.

The Illini now sit at 4-3 overall, with a home win against Illinois State on Sunday. This coming Friday, Illinois welcomes the Xavier Musketeers to Atkins Tennis Center as it aims to stay above .500 early in the season.

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