Despite providing ample experience against top teams, last weekend was one to forget for Illinois women’s tennis (2-5). In three matches at the ITA National Indoor Championships, Illinois registered one point en route to a 0-3 record.
The Illini are 2-5 in dual matches this season but have two chances to inch closer to breaking even this weekend. Illinois plays against Iowa State (4-1) at 4 p.m. on Friday and No. 22 Baylor (6-1) at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Both matches will be at the Atkins Tennis Center as Illinois enters the second half of its 10-match homestand.
Stacked opponents
The competition was stiff throughout the entirety of the ITA National Indoor Championships. Although Illinois typically thrives at home (11-1 at home in 2024), it did not matter to No. 2 Texas A&M (8-1), No. 3 Oklahoma State (6-3) and No. 6 UCLA (4-2). It took until Sunday for a match to last much longer than two hours (2:05, 2:03) and for Illinois to get its first singles win of the weekend.
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Aside from Texas A&M, who advanced to the championship round, Illinois’ other opponents went 1-2 on the weekend. Both of their lone wins came against Illinois. As a result, Oklahoma State fell to No. 13 in the Feb. 12 ITA team poll, while UCLA dropped to No. 11. The Aggies remained at No. 2 after falling to the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs (7-1) in the championship.
Illinois’ lone singles win was an impressive one. Junior Violeta Martinez got close to a ranked win the previous two days, but neither match was played to completion.
When Illinois’ match against Texas A&M concluded, Martinez was cut short against No. 101 junior Mia Kupres at a 6-4, 3-6 split. Twenty-four hours later, Martinez’s match against No. 40 sophomore Gracie Epps went unfinished while mounting a comeback (5-7, 4-1). Martinez was finally allowed to finish her match on Sunday, earning a straight-set win over No. 53 senior Elise Wagle (6-4, 6-4).
Illinois did not claim the doubles point in any match but did pick up wins against Oklahoma State and UCLA. Most notable of the two, Martinez teamed up with sophomore Alice Xu to defeat UCLA’s No. 30 junior Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer and sophomore Ahmani Guichard.
Moving forward
Losing is never fun, but the Illini are confident that last weekend’s experience has valuable takeaways.
“(Friday) and (Saturday) showed that we belong,” said head coach Evan Clark after the loss to Oklahoma State. “We’ve just got to be a little bit better, a little bit sharper (and) a little bit cleaner at times. We’ve got to find ways to put pressure on these teams. Once you don’t put pressure on them, they’re going to be really good and run with it.”
Heading into this week, Illinois can apply some of its new experience and right the ship. The competition level will, of course, be a step down from No. 2, No. 3 and No. 6; however, Illinois’ Big 12 adversaries are nothing to sneeze at.
Iowa State is led by No. 70 senior Anna Supapitch Kuearum, who has won all six of her completed matches this season: three in singles and three in doubles. The Bangkok native has also already dethroned a top Big Ten opponent on the road this season. On Feb. 5, Supapitch Kuearum pulled off a three-set comeback at Iowa against No. 113 junior Daianne Hayashida (3-6, 6-4, 6-0).
With Supapitch Kuearum at the top, securing the doubles point will be even more critical for the Illini.
Baylor is Illinois’ only opponent so far that climbed the team rankings between Jan. 29 and Feb. 12. The jump to No. 22 from No. 25 isn’t massive, but it shows consistency that will be tough to overcome.
The Bears boast two ranked singles players, No. 85 freshman Na Dong and No. 117 sophomore Zuzanna Kubacha. However, its biggest strength is in doubles. The senior pairing of No. 14 Cristina Tiglea and Liubov Kostenko is 6-0 in dual matches this season, all on court one. Illinois must overcome some combination of Baylor’s ranked trio to come out on top.
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