Michigan (12-6, 9-1) defeated Illinois (9-10, 5-4) Saturday, 4-0, at Atkins Tennis Center. Michigan’s No. 37 sophomore Jessica Bernales and senior Lily Jones took down Illinois sophomore Tessa Bucher and senior Alice Xu at 6-2 in doubles.
The Wolverine’s duo of No. 76 junior Piper Charney and sophomore Emily Sartz-Lunde faced Illini duo, freshmen Kimiko Cooper and Lizzie Isyanov, winning 6-1. The third doubles match went unfinished with Illinois’ duo of senior McKenna Schaefbauer and sophomore Ariel Madatali against Michigan’s pair of freshman, Laura Rahnel and junior Reese Miller.
In singles, No. 6 Charney battled No. 39 Schaefbauer, where Charney earned the first set 6-2. Schaefbauer battled back and fought for the second set, but Charney won 7-6 (3). No. 112 Miller secured the first set 6-3 against Madatali and then grabbed the win in the second set 6-2.
Illinois falls at zero doubles
Starting fresh on Sunday, Illinois fought against Michigan State (10-10, 3-7), but fell 4-1. Illinois’ Bucher and Xu fought against Michigan State’s sophomore Ellie Blackford and senior Matilde Morais in doubles.
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In prior matches, Xu hadn’t played with Bucher for some time. However, she finally did this weekend, which built up her excitement for the match.
“We just started playing together again yesterday, last match, and so I think I was pretty excited for doubles,” Xu said.
Michigan State gained an advantage in the first game and began advancing gradually. Illinois only won two games, and Michigan State won six, securing its doubles win.
Despite Bucher and Xu losing their doubles, Xu found positivity through working with her teammate.
“Obviously, in the match, it was close, and some things didn’t go as expected,” Xu said. “But it’s always a positive feeling of anticipation.”
The Spartans gained their second win in doubles, as sophomore Amara Brahmbhatt and junior Hanna Tsitavets beat Schaefbauer and Madatali. Both teams rallied back and forth after each game, where they met at a tiebreaker. The Spartans gained the win in the tiebreaker game 7-2, while the last doubles match went unfinished.
Battle of the singles
Michigan State sophomore Nina Plihal and Bucher finished the first singles match. Bucher advanced consistently through most games during the first set, but Plihal caught up and won the set 6-4. Plihal earned the win with a 6-2 second set.
In the Illini’s first singles win, No. 39 Schaefbauer played exceptionally well against Brahmbhatt. Both athletes went back and forth, winning each game in the first set. Schaefbauer broke the tiebreaker in the first set and won 7-6. Brahmbhatt led in the beginning of the second set, then the two players alternated moving forward in each game, but Schaefbauer won 6-4.
Throughout the entire match, Schaefbauer had to maintain her strength and energy to claim her win. Even when she would start to fall short, she pushed herself and her energy to her win.
“One of my strengths is just bringing the energy to the team and to the courts across,” Schaefbauer said. “I mean, I’m one out of six, so I just try to maintain that with my teammates.”
As her teammates were surrounding her, it made it easier for her to maintain her balance throughout the match. Even during Saturday’s match against Michigan, she found the strengths of her previous match and built on them.
“I just try to have a really short memory and take what I learned from the loss yesterday, use it for today,” Schaefbauer said.
She was doing better towards the end of her previous singles match and took that momentum with her during Sunday’s match to give her the quick turnaround she needed to gain.
Senior Issey Purser took on sophomore Illini Cara Mester in the next singles win. Mester flew through the first set, advancing throughout and won 6-1. The second set led to a tiebreaker game where Purser swept the win 7-5. The final set led to Purser giving Michigan State its third singles win 6-3.
In a continuous battle between Blackford and Cooper, Cooper gained the first set 6-4. Blackford came in the lead in the second set and then turned around and gained her win back 6-4. The final set led to Blackford gaining Michigan State’s fourth win, 6-3.
Madatali versed Morais in singles and left the match unfinished, as well as Xu and Tsitavets.
USC (15-5, 8-1) and UCLA (11-6, 5-4) will visit Illinois at Atkins Tennis Center for the last two home matches next Friday and Sunday.
