In a season where No. 42 Illinois (14-12, 8-5) earned 1-1 splits in five of its seven weekends of Big Ten play, it was only fitting that it did the same in the Big Ten tournament. In the first round, No. 7 seed Illinois swept No. 10 seed Northwestern (13-13, 6-7). The victory moved Illinois to 3-0 against Northwestern this season and also marked its seventh straight win over the in-state rival. However, No. 2 seed Ohio State (21-3, 12-1) avenged Northwestern in the following round and put Illinois on the opposite end of a sweep (4-0).
Due to the Big Ten expanding to 18 teams, the tournament moved from automatic qualification to a top 12 model. This change did not affect the Illini, who finished five spots above the cutoff.
With the Big Ten tournament concluding on Sunday, Monday’s NCAA tournament selection show gave Illinois its third straight bid. Illinois’ host site for the first two rounds is Charlottesville, Virginia. Paired with Arizona (19-10), ranked No. 30 nationally, in the first round, Illinois’ potential opponent in the second round will come from the winner of No. 7 seed Virginia (20-5) and Fairleigh Dickinson (11-7). The Sweet 16 is at individual super-regional sites while the Elite Eight and onward are in Waco, Texas.
Familiar opponent, familiar result
The Big Ten tournament was less than two weeks after the last time Illinois played Northwestern. This worked out for Illinois, as each of its three matches against Northwestern this season were progressively more dominant. Starting with a 4-2 win during non-conference play, Illinois also took a 4-1 victory in Big Ten play. Coming full circle in the postseason, Illinois capped things off with a 4-0 decision.
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This turn of events is a positive sign for the Illini, who trail the all-time series 9-26 and once suffered a 20 match losing streak to the Wildcats (2005-21). Illinois is looking stronger even within its current win streak against Northwestern, which started with three tightly contested 4-3 wins.
Familiar opponent…
Much like Northwestern, Illinois played Ohio State shortly before the Big Ten tournament (April 6). However, both matches against the No. 9 nationally ranked Buckeyes ended in defeat. Ohio State finished with commanding margins of victory both times (4-1, 4-0), however, Illinois put up a fight.
In doubles, Illinois kept pace on courts two and three. After 10 games on both courts, the count was even at 5-5. However, a loss on court one and an eventual 7-5 loss on court three gave Ohio State the advantage going into singles (1-0).
From there, Illinois continued to make life hard for Ohio State. Three of the six singles matches went to three sets or featured a tiebreaker game. However, the Buckeyes only needed the other three matches to go their way to reach four points. Straight set wins on courts two, five and three gave Ohio State the 4-0 victory. Two days later, Ohio State defeated No. 1 seed Michigan (23-4, 13-0) in the championship match and was crowned Big Ten tournament champion.
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