The Illinois women’s tennis team faces a challenge this Friday as it travels to Lincoln, Neb., to take on No. 10 Nebraska.
The Illini (6-5, 0-1 Big Ten) fell 5-2 to Northwestern in a well-fought match last Saturday, losing their first Big Ten match of the season.
“Both Nebraska and Northwestern are equivalent teams,” senior Breanne Smutko said. “They’re both close to top-10 teams. We know they’re going to be both mentally and physically tough. We need to rise to their level. We are going to need six fighters on every court, everyone is going to need to show up.”
“We get too worked up for Big Ten matches and too worked up for Northwestern or a team like that,” head coach Michelle Dasso said. “But we really just have to bring that same mentality that we brought versus Oklahoma and for the most part against Northwestern.”
Illinois upset then-No. 25 Nebraska last year at home in a close 4-3 match in which then-senior Marisa Lambropoulos came from behind in her match. This year, the Illini are emphasizing doubles play throughout practice to prepare against Nebraska.
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“Last weekend, we had a really close doubles point, two of our matches lost in tiebreakers,” junior Allison Falkin said of the top-two doubles matches. “So I think that if we can pull off a win in the doubles point this time it will set the tone differently for the match.”
The Illini, along with the coaching staff, feel as though playing doubles shows their true athleticism and prepares them best for their upcoming matches.
“We have focused and practiced a lot on doubles,” Dasso said. “We have talked about it all year that doubles is a huge part of what we want to be known for because we are an athletic team and we want to showcase that while being aggressive and fearless.”
The mental aspect of the game is another factor that works its way into every practice. It is important to get into opponents’ heads to predict what’s going to happen at the net.
“We practice so much and condition so much, but the mental part of the game is an enormous part of it,” Dasso said.
Daniel can be reached at [email protected].
