The season continues to trend upward for Illinois women’s tennis, which is coming off two of its most impressive season wins. Illinois followed its 4-3 upset over No. 23 UCF with an extremely tough sweep against Ole Miss (4-0), and its sights are on Brown and Marshall this weekend.
After spending almost a month on the road, Illinois faces no shortage of home matches. A trip to Alabama for the Blue Gray Tennis Classic is the only time Illinois is on the road until March 22.
Brown enters Saturday on a two-match skid and sits at 4-3 on the season. Playing away from home has been an issue for the Bears this season, as they have gone 1-3 in neutral and away matches.
Improvement is always the goal for the Illini, especially as they navigate through the first half of their schedule. Their opponents play an integral part in that goal, with Brown and Marshall presenting yet another opportunity for iron to sharpen iron.
“They’re both really good,” said head coach Evan Clark. “They’re not really different, level-wise, compared to what we’ve been doing. It’s just kind of another really high-quality match for us that we’re going to have to play well.”
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Junior Kasia Treiber secured back-to-back match-clinching wins for the Illini against UCF and Ole Miss, most recently coming back from a 1-6, 3-5 deficit to ultimately win 1-6, 7-5, 6-2. The home environment was big for Treiber last weekend, who said that support made it much easier on her.
“It was pretty big for me and also pretty big for the team,” Treiber said. “It had a lot of heart, and it came from my teammates and all the cheering that I had. That atmosphere makes it much easier for me.”
Marshall is a familiar opponent for much of Illinois’ roster since its most recent meeting was exactly one year before its match this season. Treiber took a commanding victory on court four last season (6-2, 6-0) and said that sticking to what she’s comfortable with will be key this time.
“It’s always, for me, sticking to what I know,” Treiber said. “Sometimes I get too caught up in what my opponent is doing. I should probably focus on myself a little more, and I think that’s when I play my best tennis. Going into this weekend, we’ve played Marshall before. I know they’re a good team, kind of a sneaky team, so I’m just going to have to play my game and not let up.”
Illinois women’s tennis is scheduled to play Brown at noon on Saturday before facing Marshall at 11 a.m. Sunday. Junior Kida Ferrari will be available for both matches after missing Ole Miss due to illness, while senior Kate Duong remains out with an injury.
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