Conference play is officially underway for No. 45 Illinois women’s tennis (6-7, 1-1), which went 5-6 in a tough non-conference schedule. However, the Big Ten is no step down in competition. Illinois went up against No. 60 Minnesota (8-8, 0-3) and No. 17 Wisconsin (10-1, 3-0) in its first weekend. The Illini were on the road for both matches, starting in Minneapolis on Friday and ending in Madison on Sunday.
Fighting through injury
The Illini got off to a strong start against the Golden Gophers. They claimed the doubles point with two wins, on top of being up 5-4 in the unfinished match. A 1-0 lead entering singles was pushed to 2-0 after an efficient 6-2, 6-1 win from senior Kasia Treiber. However, Minnesota junior Anali Kocevar quickly responded with a 6-2, 6-1 victory of her own on court three.
Senior Kida Ferrari was putting together a comeback after losing her first set (2-6, 4-2), but was forced to abandon the match after suffering an ankle injury. This equalized the match for Minnesota (2-2).
Despite losing a point due to injury, the Illini stuck through the remaining matches. A 6-2, 6-2 win from freshman Ariel Madatali briefly moved Illinois ahead (3-2), but Minnesota had an answer. Senior Megan Heuser was the last Illini standing after being on the opposite end of 6-4 in her first two sets (6-4, 4-6). However, Heuser dropped just one game (6-1) in the third set and gave Illinois the 4-3 win.
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“It was a big deal (to win after the injury),” said head coach Evan Clark. “I was proud of how we were able to pull out that match, given all the circumstances. Minnesota played pretty well that night, so we always feel fortunate to get a road win.”
Strong on courts 3-6
Two days later, Illinois was in great position to take the doubles point against Wisconsin. However, it did not capitalize on a 4-1 advantage on court two and Wisconsin rallied to take the point.
The importance of the doubles point reared its head from the beginning of the match. Wisconsin quickly took 6-2 first sets on courts one and two while Illinois held strong on the other four courts. After the Badgers claimed court two, Madatali won the Illini’s first and only point of the day.
“It was great to get a point up on the board,” Clark said. “We were looking good in a lot of matches, but we were struggling to get a point on the board. (Madatali) was the only one to get through her match in straight sets … she’s a tough out, and she did a really good job today.”
Court one ended soon after, putting Illinois against the wall down 3-1. All remaining matches went to a third set, and Illinois competed in all of them. However, the Illini fell short and lost to the Badgers 4-1. Treiber led 6-3, 3-6, 5-4 and junior Violeta Martinez was tied 6-4, 4-6, 3-3 when the match concluded.
“That was a big step for us to have that scoreboard pressure (in first sets),” Clark said. “One thing we talked about is that we didn’t do a good enough job at the beginning of second sets to keep that pressure on. … There’s very small margins and a team like Wisconsin gets any wiggle room … they’re going to run with it. … we’ve just got to keep the momentum.”
Illinois’ next Big Ten matches are at home this weekend. A 5 p.m. home match against No. 52 Iowa (7-4, 1-1) on Friday will kick off the weekend. Later, Illinois will host No. 44 Nebraska (10-3, 0-2) at noon on Sunday.
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