Immediately after cracking the top 25 in late February, Illinois women’s tennis hit a rough patch. Traveling to the Blue Gray Classic saw Illinois lose back-to-back matches against No. 36 Alabama and No. 59 Wake Forest before No. 29 Washington extended the losing streak to three the following weekend. However, the Illini got back into the win column this weekend in dramatic fashion. No. 49 Maryland and No. 75 Rutgers traveled to Champaign for Illinois’ first Big Ten matches of the spring season, and the home team prevailed in 4-1 and 4-2 wins. The weekend kicked off on Friday at 3 p.m. with the Terrapins standing opposite the Illini. Warm weather allowed for the match to be held outside, something that head coach Evan Clark described as being an equalizing factor.
“The conditions make a great equalizer,” Clark said. “You have to do so much intangible stuff, a lot of details stuff, way better outside just because of the conditions and the wind.”
Doubles play began with junior Kasia Treiber standing in place of sophomore Violeta Martinez, who missed both matches due to injury. Clark said the injury was minor and that Martinez should not be out of the lineup for an extended period.
“Yeah, (Martinez) got banged up, hip,” Clark said. “We’re hoping she’ll be back by next weekend.”
The Illini flew through their opponents in doubles. Treiber and sophomore McKenna Schaefbauer were first to finish, claiming a 6-2 victory on court three. No. 35 junior Megan Heuser and freshman Alice Xu were not far behind, dropping just one additional game en route to a 6-3 victory that gave Illinois the doubles point.
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Xu’s excellence continued into singles, as Martinez’s absence opened a spot on court six. The Virginia native flew through a pair of 6-1 sets to give Illinois a 2-0 advantage. Maryland notched a point thanks to a 6-1, 6-2 win on court three; however, junior Kida Ferrari answered swiftly by claiming court five in straight sets (6-2, 6-2).
The clinching point came on court one as Heuser became even more dominant as the match progressed. The Terrapins put up a fight in the first set despite an eventual 6-4 outcome in favor of Heuser, but the second set was much less contested. Climbing out of a 40-30 hole in the seventh game capped off four straight games and a 6-1 victory for the Illinois native.
Schaefbauer (4-6, 3-4) and fifth-year Josie Frazier (2-6, 3-4) lost their first sets but held on long enough in the second set for their matches to go unfinished in Illinois’ 4-1 win over Maryland.
Less than two days later, Illinois was on the courts to host Rutgers. Colder weather forced this match to be held inside.
Once again, Illinois took the doubles point; however, it came in a much different fashion. Heuser and Xu, who had lost just one match all season, found themselves in a 1-3 hole to start. Fortunately, courts two and three saw simultaneous levels of success. Ferrari/Frazier and Treiber/Schaefbauer both fell behind 0-1, tied their match at 1-1 and fell behind 1-2 before rallying to take complete control of their matches. Treiber and Schaefbauer flew through a 5-1 stretch and claimed a 6-3 victory just seconds before Ferrari and Frazier secured the doubles point via a five-game win-streak (6-2).
Singles play was much more even-sided on Sunday, with Rutgers storming through court one to quickly even the overall score at 1-1. Fortunately, Frazier dominated court three, and the Illini regained the lead within minutes (6-2, 6-2). Frazier’s poise through two sets ended up being a commodity for Illinois, and Clark said that it was a result of Frazier being at the top of her game recently.
“We needed a quick one, so that was good,” Clark said. “Over (Frazier’s) last six, seven matches, she’s probably playing the best tennis she’s played for a very long time. It’s the best tennis she’s played since she got here. We have full faith in her right now and she’s playing really, really well.”
Xu was next to finish, capping off yet another excellent singles performance. While Friday was pure dominance, Xu had to climb out of a 0-3 hole in the first set to start Sunday. She won six of the next seven games from there (6-4) and was even more decisive in the second set, winning four straight games to move Illinois within one point of victory (6-3).
The Scarlet Knights were not completely out of the race and tacked on another point after rallying for a three-set victory on court five. All eyes turned to Treiber, who had also been forced to a third set on court three. Despite Treiber only taking the first set by a tight margin (6-4), she had a 5-1 lead at one point and effectively dominated the first set. However, her opponent had a much more consequential comeback in the second set and forced her into a 1-4 deficit that proved too steep to overcome (3-6).
Just when it seemed like the match would be decided by an inch, mistakes began to pile up for Rutgers — none of which were as critical as the double fault that gave Treiber her fifth game (5-3). The Illinois native wasted no time clinching the match from there (6-3), securing a 4-2 win over Rutgers.
“The most important thing was just knowing that I have it in me,” Treiber said. “Knowing that just because I’m in the third set doesn’t mean I haven’t been there before, knowing that I can do it. Losing the second set always is tough to come back, but just staying in the right headspace and being confident in myself (was key).”
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