Look up at the indoor tennis courts of the Atkins Tennis Center. There are 14 All-American banners for Illinois men’s tennis but one for their female counterparts.

The doubles team of Rachael White and Melissa Kopinski made sure to add to that number.

The tandem took down No. 9 Oklahoma’s doubles team of Whitney Ritchie and Hermon Brhane in the Round of 16 of the NCAA doubles tournament, 6-4, 7-6 (5). The win puts the Illini in the quarterfinals of the tournament and grants them All-American status – the first female All-American at Illinois since Lindsey Nimmo in 1993.

“I’m so proud, getting a banner up in Atkins has been a dream of mine ever since I got here,” head coach Michelle Dasso said. “It’s a tremendous honor and to do in on our own courts in front of a supportive crowd, it couldn’t have been better.”

The tandem was forced to come back multiple times in both sets to secure the victory. To open up the match, Oklahoma quickly jumped to a 2-0 lead, including a sweep in the first game. A little later in the first set, the Illini were again down, this time by a 4-2 margin before they broke Brhane’s serve en route to a four game run to clinch the set.

It was White, who had been broken twice in the set already, who served to clinch the first set.

“I just took some extra confidence out there and knew we really needed that game,” White said. “I just focused a little bit more.”

In the second set, the Illini broke Ritchie in the first game but squandered the opportunity to get ahead by losing the next four games to go down 4-1. Illinois would break Oklahoma two more times to make the margin 5-5, and for the match the Illini broke the Sooners six times.

After surrendering a game, White again came up big at the service line tie the set to send the game to a tiebreaker. The Illini were just two of six when White was serving, but the two games they won were at the match’s biggest moments.

In the tiebreaker, the Illini again had troubles at the service line holding them back. When up 2-0, Kopinski had a double fault to bring the Sooners within one and then White had a double fault later in the tiebreak to tie it at 3-3.

With the home crowd at its loudest, the Illini took three of the next five points to push the tiebreaker to match point. On a deep volley in the corner, Brhane’s return couldn’t get past the net and the Illini were moving on to the quarterfinals – the farthest an Illini women’s doubles team has ever advanced in the tournament.

“They were so controlled in the pressure situations there,” Dasso said. “Both yesterday and today, that’s two days in a row.”

The Illini were in a similar situation Thursday against South Carolina and again won in a 7-6 tiebreaker to clinch the match.

The two teams have met before, when they faced each other on Feb. 24 also at the Atkins Tennis Center. The Illini won that matchup as well, 9-7, and were forced to come back in that match as well when they were faced with a 7-4 deficit.

The Illini watched the film of the first match last night to help formulate their game plan. One of the points of emphasis was to control play close to the net because Oklahoma is known for “poaching,” where the player traditionally at the net crosses over the court in front of their won player to win a quick volley.

Even after the win, the magnitude of the victory for the program hadn’t sunk in yet for White and Kopinski.

“I think Mel is pretty speechless,” White said, as Kopinski held back tears. “It hasn’t really hit us yet.”

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