It was a roller coaster weekend for the Illini as they faced off against two Big Ten rivals from the state of Michigan. It also marked the first time the Illini were home at Atkins for more than a month. Both matches saw Illinois caught in a tiebreaking battle for the doubles point before moving onto the singles points. While the Illini steamrolled the Michigan State Spartans in a 4-0 victory, they’d fall short on Sunday against the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines in singles for a 4-2 loss.

Illinois started off with momentum in doubles play on Friday afternoon. The Spartans dropped the first game on courts one and two but took the first game on number three. However, Michigan rallied on courts one and two in the later games however, forcing the Illini to extra games. Court 3 finished first as freshman Violeta Martinez and sophomore Kida Ferrari fell 4-6 to Michigan State’s Purser and Conard. After a back-and-forth game between No. 28, sophomore and junior duo of Megan Heuser and Kate Duong grabbed a 7-5 victory against Michigan State’s Vehvilainen/Can pair to continue their dominant win streak, which Heuser made note of after the game.

“We have been (playing very well),” Heuser said. “We’re on a winning streak right now, and it’s pretty cool for us. We’re using confidence from last season, building upon that. I think we’ve only lost once this season. So honestly it has given us a lot of pressure because we have so much to uphold because everyone expects us to win. But today we just had to come out and know that we’re the better team, believe in what we do, and trust and have confidence in ourselves.”

While Heuser and Duong continued their immaculate play, the deciding set for the doubles took place on court two where senior duo Josie Frazier and Emily Casati found themselves in a war of attrition against Lambert/Zdrubecka. The Spartans came out to a 3-5 lead before the Illini won three straight games but ultimately had to go to a tiebreaker after the Spartans rallied for one more game. Frazier and Casati shined, as they picked up five points in a row and fed off Zdrubecka’s frustration to gain the upper hand and grab the doubles point for the Illini.

Moving into the singles Illinois hit the ground running and put the pressure on Michigan State. No. 128 Ashley Yeah had a flawless first set against Michigan State’s Can, as she easily picked apart Can’s attempts at a comeback to grab a 6-0 win. Sophomore Kasia Treiber also had a perfect first set as she faced off against Conard. Their opponents eventually got some points on the board in the second set, but Yeah defeated Can 6-4 while Treiber beat Conard 6-3 in the second set to grab another point. Heuser finished the match at court three where she bested Lambert 6-2 in the first set and 6-3 in the second to finish the day. With the Spartans beat, the Illini came out to 4-0 against Big Ten opponents.

However, that undefeated streak wouldn’t last as Illinois fell short against No. 5 Michigan on Sunday. History seemed to repeat itself Sunday morning, as a repeat of the doubles point took place against Michigan. Frazier/Casati were the Illini duo to fall this time as they’d lose 1-6 to the Wolverines’ Fliegner and Joneson on court two. Heuser and Duong continued their win streak against the second best pair in the nation in Michigan’s Brown and Miller on court one. Martinez and Ferrari were the ones who had to face the pressure, as they battled back in an astounding comeback from 5-2, before dropping a game to make it 6-5 Michigan.

The Illini fought back however, as Martinez and Ferrari grabbed the 12th game to make it 6-6 and force a tiebreaker. The Wolverines took the first point before the Illini made it 3-1. The pairs traded points back and forth in a tense tiebreaker that ended with the Illini up 7-6 to take the doubles point. Head coach Evan Clark was open with his pride in Martinez and Ferrari’s ability to come back and clutch the doubles point for the team.

“I was so happy for (Martinez and Ferrari) finding their way,” Clark said. “They haven’t really played that many doubles matches together. They hadn’t really played in a pressure situation like that, they came back, match point and the breaker. I was just incredibly pleased with their composure and how they handled that.”

The Illini steadily lost the lead in singles, before eventually succumbing 2-4 to Michigan. The Wolverines made it a point to not allow any easy points, and nowhere was this on clearer display than the face off against Yeah and No. 30 Jaedan Brown. Brown was a force in the first set, beating Yeah 0-6. Yeah succumbed to frustration in the first set, but bounced back in the second set. Brown looked as if she’d continue her dominance when she went up 1-2, but Yeah won to go up 3-2 and eventually take the second with a 6-3 victory. The two went back and forth for the third set, before Yeah finished the match with a 6-4 victory.

Yeah’s singles victory was only one on the day however, as Michigan systematically picked up points, starting first on court one as Duong fell to Miller in two sets, Frazier following shortly after on court four after two sets. Treiber, Heuser and Ferrari all fell after forcing a third set, cementing Michigan’s comeback. By the end of the match Illinois had lost 4-2 to Michigan, ending its undefeated streak against Big Ten rivals at 4-1.

After a brief stop at home, Illinois will be back on the road next week, facing off against two more Big Ten rivals in Rutgers and Maryland.

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