Following a split start to the season, seven of eight Illinois women’s tennis players headed to South Bend, Indiana, for the Notre Dame Invite. Across three days of competition, the Illini netted 15 victories against opponents from Tulane, Michigan, Ohio State and Columbia. By opponent, Illinois had records of 6-4, 1-5, 2-2 and 6-2 against Tulane, Michigan, Ohio State and Columbia, respectively.
Junior McKenna Schaefbauer faced stiff competition throughout the weekend, beginning with Tulane’s Leigh Van Zyl. A recent transfer from Clemson, Van Zyl struggled to keep up with Schaefbauer from the jump. The first set finished after nine games with Schaefbauer on top 6-3, and that momentum carried over into set two. This time it took just eight games for Schaefbauer to claim the set and the match as a whole (6-3, 6-2). Illinois had six other singles matches against Tulane, including an impressive three-set comeback from freshman Ariel Madatali (3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(2)), and earned a record of 4-3. The Illini also came out on top of doubles and won two of their three matches against the Green Wave.
Day two featured matches against a mix of challengers from Michigan and Ohio State. Schaefbauer was opposite a tough opponent once again: Ohio State’s No. 71 Shelly Bereznyak. Bereznyak is one of three Buckeyes who were featured in the ITA singles preseason rankings, however, the other two did not compete at the Notre Dame Invite. Despite battling in both sets, Schaefbauer lost 7-5, 6-4 to Bereznyak.
“There’s something I can learn from every single match that I play,” Schaefbauer said. “Going into the next day, (I was) just trying to really work on execution. I put myself in good positions in that match. So (I was) just trying to build off of that, having confidence that I put myself in those positions.”
Sophomore Alice Xu also faced a ranked opponent on Saturday in the form of Michigan’s No. 45 Lily Jones. The outcome was the same for Xu, who lost 6-1, 6-1. Junior Violeta Martinez accounted for Illinois’ only singles win from day two after coming out on top of a long three-set match against Michigan’s Jessica Bernales (2-6, 6-4, 7-5).
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Sunday was much brighter for the Illini, who played eight matches opposite Columbia and one versus Ohio State. Once again, Schaefbauer was tasked with a ranked opponent. Columbia’s No. 125 Gayathri Krishnan opened the season on a strong foot, going 3-0 at the Columbia Invitational and 1-1 at the ITA All-American Championships prior to the Notre Dame Invite.
Krishnan jumped out to an early lead against Schaefbauer after claiming a contested first set 7-5. However, Schaefbauer fought for a tiebreak in an even tighter second set that sat at 6-6 through 12 games. The tiebreaker game ultimately swung in Schaefbauer’s favor as well, as she crossed the seven-point threshold ahead of Krishnan to stay alive. Instead of a full third set, a super tiebreak was the deciding factor. Schaefbauer prevailed in the super tiebreak as well, crossing 10 points first and taking a 5-7, 7-6(5), 10-7 ranked win in the process.
“I thought she (Schaefbauer) did a great job over the whole weekend,” said head coach Evan Clark. “She continues to put herself in position to win. Even with the match she lost, I felt like she was in a pretty good position to win. She’s come a long way since last fall, and now every match is competitive, which is huge.”
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