Following a two-match weekend that saw a win over Colorado (4-1) and a loss to Georgia Tech (4-3), Illinois (2-2) is set to host the ITA Indoor National Championships.
The event has two host sites, with eight teams starting in Champaign and eight starting in Evanston. Illinois hosts the first two rounds of its side of the bracket, while Northwestern also hosts the semifinals and finals. There is a three-match minimum for all teams, so Illinois also gets to host consolation matches on Sunday.
First up
Illinois has a titan in front of it in round one. Texas A&M (5-0) is the top-seeded team in Illinois’ half of the bracket, in addition to being the No. 2 team in the nation and reigning national champion. Friday is the first time Illinois will play a reigning national champion under head coach Evan Clark.
The Aggies dominated the Feb. 5 individual rankings, the first update since Dec. 3. Senior Mary Stoiana clocked in as the No. 3 singles player in the country with a 9-2 record and 52.56 points. Not far behind her is No. 12 junior Nicole Khirin, who has a 16-3 record and 35.71 points. Still inside the top 50, Texas A&M also boasts No. 41 sophomore Lucciana Perez. The underclassman is 8-1 this season with 13.46 points.
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Rounding out the singles rankings, the Aggies are shored up by juniors No. 101 Mia Kupres and No. 125 Daria Smetannikov. Texas A&M only has one ranked doubles team, No. 42 Stoiana and Kupres.
For Illinois, juniors McKenna Shaefbauer and Violeta Martinez dropped out of the singles poll. However, the Illini gained a pair of ranked duos in No. 61 seniors Megan Heuser and Kida Ferrari and No. 89 Heuser/sophomore Alice Xu.
If the Illini advance, their path does not get much easier. The winner of Illinois’ match will play the winner of No. 3 Oklahoma State (5-1) and No. 11 Texas (4-1) at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. The losing teams will play their consolation match immediately after at 6:30 p.m.
Rebound win
The Illini really needed their most recent win over the Buffaloes. Losing to Georgia Tech was a tough pill to swallow, especially after Illinois battled back from down 3-0 to tie at 3-3. Heuser had the opportunity to deliver in the final match, but she lost in three sets.
However, two days later, against Colorado, Heuser came out on top of a three-set match and gave Illinois a 4-2 win.
“Playing on the same court, you still have thoughts of those matches,” said Heuser. “It was two days ago, so it’s crazy (that) I have to bounce back and figure out how to win for my team again. I was super fortunate to be able to (win) in doubles, and thankfully, I was able to clinch. It felt unbelievable to do that for my team today.”
Illinois kicks off its ITA Indoor National Championships journey at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
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