After a first week of action that split up Illinois women’s tennis, all but one member of the team will be in South Bend, Indiana this weekend. The team’s return to action sent an ensemble of senior Kida Ferrari, junior Violeta Martinez, sophomore Rosie Seccia and freshman Ariel Madatali to Waco, Texas from Sept. 20-22.
Meanwhile, different combinations of seniors Megan Heuser and Kasia Treiber, junior McKenna Schaefbauer and sophomore Alice Xu were in Cary, North Carolina from Sept. 21-29.
One of the biggest differences between the fall season and the spring season is that sometimes the team gets split up. As a result, Xu said that she is looking forward to the team mostly reuniting this weekend.
“I was at home — or back on campus alone for that weekend, watching my team through screens,” Xu said. “I’m really excited to be able to cheer them on in person. Have them cheer for me and just play next to them.”
This week, the entire team outside of Heuser will travel to South Bend for the Notre Dame Invite. The group from Cary last week competed in the ITA All-American Championships. Each player had to qualify for each draw, which meant some players only participated in one of singles and doubles. Xu, who only played doubles alongside Heuser, said she is looking forward to her first singles matches of the fall.
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“It’s my first singles match back,” Xu said. “I’m just hoping to get some experience, get back in the groove of things. I’m excited. I just want to play some tennis.”
Illinois will be up against opponents from four different schools this weekend. On Friday, the team will face Tulane before playing a mix of competitors from Ohio State and Michigan on Saturday. To close its time in South Bend, Illinois will finish with a series of matches against Columbia.
There are plenty of ranked opportunities for the Illini against these opponents. Michigan boasts three singles players in the ITA preseason rankings, with No. 12 Julia Fliegner atop the pack. Ohio State also has three ranked singles players, but it’s a bit lower across the board with No. 23 Luciana Perry, No. 50 Sydni Ratliff and No. 71 Shelly Bereznyak. However, Bereznyak is the only ranked player expected to compete for the Buckeyes.
Michigan has not announced if any of its top players will not be competing.
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