Following the high of a 4-0 victory over Michigan State and the low of a 4-2 loss to Michigan, No. 34 Illinois women’s tennis got back in the win column on Friday with a dominant 5-0 road win against Rutgers. The match puts Illinois at 5-1 when playing Big Ten opponents and 14-6 overall as the season begins to wind down.

With the Michigan loss still looming over Illinois’ head entering this match, head coach Evan Clark emphasized his goals and expectations for the team in order to bounce back. 

“We just have to try and continue to be clean, and keep working on stuff, and it’ll be another great opportunity for us,” Clark said. “We’re in a great position. I just told the team we’re in such a good position right now, and I think we’ll get better and better with more matches too. I think we’ve seen that. I’ve just seen so much improvement. We’re excited about it. We’ve got three weeks left, so it’s like, ‘let’s just keep pushing, keep pushing. Go hard, hard, hard.’ And I think there’s a lot of tennis left.”

The Illini delivered on Friday, as the team continued its five-match streak in the doubles point to set the tone for the game. Sophomore Megan Heuser and junior Kate Duong showed why they’re the No. 15 duo in the nation as they subjugated Rutgers’ Lopez and Valitova to a 6-3 loss. The win continued the pair’s incredible 13-match win streak in doubles play, fresh off the duo besting the No. 2 doubles pair in the nation last week against Michigan. Senior duo Emily Casati and Josie Frazier would be the only Illini duo to fall on Friday as the pair started with a 2-1 lead before Rutgers’ Badawi and Chilton won five unanswered games to win the match 6-2.  After participating in the remarkable comeback last Sunday against Michigan, freshman Violeta Martinez found herself winning another doubles match from behind as she and sophomore Kaisa Treiber fought rallied after trailing 4-5 to earn a 7-5 victory and give Illinois a 1-0 lead entering singles play. 

While the Illini had to put up a fight for the doubles point, they didn’t struggle to pick up points when it came to singles matches. Heuser was the first Illinois player to win her match, as she won the first set 6-1 against Rutgers Badawi before following it up with a 6-4 win in the second set on court three. More straight-set victories soon followed as Frazier, Martinez and Yeah put on authoritative showings. Frazier was as in control as one can be, allowing her opponent to win just four out of the 16 games played on court four.

Martinez picked up the first Big Ten win of her short career with a bit of breathing room, grabbing a 6-4 win in the first set before notching a 6-3 win in the second on court six. This marked the fourth point for Illinois, but with Yeah’s match dwindling down, it was allowed to play out. Clinching her match just a few moments later, Yeah’s win netted Illinois a 5-0 victory overall. 

Illinois will be looking to close out the Easter weekend with another Big Ten win at Maryland, looking to make its conference record 6-1, before facing off against Wisconsin and Minnesota the following weekend.

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