The Illinois women’s tennis team has the rematch it wanted.

In the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, the Illini earned a 4-1 victory over Michigan State on Thursday morning. With the win, the Illini will get another chance to take down Purdue, who beat them on April 21.

“We are looking forward to another crack at Purdue tomorrow,” head coach Michelle Dasso said in a press release. “They beat us at home on Sunday and are last year’s tournament champs, so the pressure is on them. We want this one badly.”

The Illini (14-10, 6-5 Big Ten) came out strong and quickly clinched the doubles point with victories from the No. 1 and 3 positions. It was the sixth consecutive match that the Illini have earned the doubles point, and the team is 5-1 in those contests.

In singles, Illinois continued its strong play and earned two more points in succession when Allison Falkin and Rachael White earned victories to give Illinois a 3-0 lead. The only point Michigan State (11-16, 1-11) would pick up was at No. 5 singles as Emily Meyers beat Misia Kedzierski in two sets.

It was senior Breanne Smutko, who clinched the victory for Illinois, as she earned a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

The Illini will have a quick turnaround and face off against the Boilermakers (16-4, 8-3) at 10 p.m. Friday.

Stephen can be reached at [email protected] and @steve_bourbon.