After inclement weather canceled this weekend’s matches, Illinois (2-2) took down DePaul (3-2) in a decisive 6-1 victory earlier this week. The win marked Illinois’ second in a row and made the team undefeated at home heading into the ITA Indoor Nationals.
The Illini made quick work of their doubles matches on Courts 2 and 3, winning 6-1 and 6-0, respectively. The match on Court 1 was left unfinished, but sophomore Tess Bucher and junior Alice Xu led 5-4.
In singles, freshman Lizzie Isyanov earned Illinois the point against sophomore Helin Alvarez. Isyanov won 6-2, 6-0 on Court 6 to put the Illini up 2-0. Finishing quickly behind her was Xu, who earned another straight-set victory. After Xu’s first match this season was left unfinished, Xu has won her last three, making her undefeated so far this dual season.
Freshman Kimiko Cooper, sophomore Ariel Madatali and senior McKenna Schaefbauer all had their matches go into a third set. With long rallies, it was do or die for the Blue Devils. If DePaul lost any of the three third sets, the dual would go in Illinois’ favor. Players, fans and the men’s tennis team in the stands were cheering after every point.
Cooper and Madatali finished close together. Madatali won the third set 6-2 to guarantee the Illini victory, and Cooper won 6-3. Madatali never trailed set score in the third, breaking her opponent twice. Cooper was dominant after losing the first set. She won 12 of the last 15 points, with 6 points in a row to win the second set.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
Schaefbauer ran her record to 4-0 this season with a victory against junior Sasha Stula. This match marks Schaefbauer’s second this year to go the distance. Her defensive style allows her to stay in long rallies and matches without tiring as fast as her opponents, which was evident on Monday.
Bucher was the only Illini to lose, going out in two nail-bitingly close sets. Even on a day with three third-set matches, Bucher’s match on Court 4 lasted the longest. Both sets went to a 7-point tiebreak and ended 8-6. DePaul freshman Yasemin Pehlivan and Bucher were evenly matched, with Bucher missing key points that ended up deciding the final result. This match earned the Blue Devils their only point of the meet.
The Illini are back in action this weekend as they host the ITA National Indoor Championships. The No. 8-seeded Illini are set to take on the No. 1-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels (7-0) on Friday at 3:30 CDT.
