Illini junior Melissa Kopinski was battling the flu before this weekend’s Midwest Blast at the Atkins Tennis Center. In what head coach Michelle Dasso described as a “gutsy” performance, Kopinski set the tone for the weekend by playing through her illness.

Kopinski cruised to a 3-0 record in doubles with freshman partner Alexis Casati to go along with a 2-1 singles record. Kopinski defeated Andrea Retolaza Andrade of Wake Forest on Friday in a comeback 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5) win to open the weekend action. She came back from match point to force and eventually win the tiebreak in the third set to defeat Andrade. Kopinski also beat the highest-ranked singles player at the tournament, No. 72 Cierra Gayton-Leach of Missouri, in straight sets Saturday. She then took the first set against Purdue’s Lynda Xepoleas on Sunday but wasn’t able to close out the match, losing in three sets.

“I’m happy with how the weekend went,” Kopinski said. “Today I lost by my mistakes. I knew what to do, I just couldn’t bring it out today. My goal is to have a winning percentage in both (singles and doubles), and I’m happy me and Lex (Casati) went 3-0 in doubles.”

Dasso was also pleased to see her team have success in multiple aspects of the game.

“I was really impressed with their calmness in pressure situations,” Dasso said. “I think we’re playing smart. We’re working the point better, and I think that takes some discipline. They’ve definitely improved immensely in that area from the beginning of the fall to where we are finishing up.”

The Illini faced Wake Forest, Missouri and Purdue in both singles and doubles throughout the three-day tournament. Dasso’s squad began the weekend by sweeping Missouri in doubles and taking two of three doubles matches from Purdue. The Illini defeated their Big Ten foe with the help of Julia Jamieson and Louise Kwong, whose doubles tandem came from behind to top Purdue’s Natalia Davila and Andela Djokovic 8-7 after a tiebreak. The Illini closed Friday’s action by taking four of seven singles matches from Wake Forest with Kopinski, Kwong, Allison Falkin and Emily Barretta each picking up wins.

The Illini kept rolling Saturday, taking two of three doubles matches from Wake Forest in the morning before winning five out of six singles matches in the afternoon against Missouri. Freshman Alexis Casati picked up her third doubles win of the weekend. She won two singles matches on the weekend, including a hard-fought three-set win over Daniela Vidal of Purdue to close out the tournament.

“Throughout the (last) match I had friends and family supporting me,” Casati said. “It was just a really fun one to play. It was nice to finish with that one. I’m really happy and proud of the team.”

In Sunday’s action, Purdue was able to get revenge for its doubles loss. The Boilermakers took three of six singles matches from the Illini, with Falkin, Casati and freshman Jerricka Boone picking up the Illini wins. The freshman trio of Kwong, Boone and Casati each went 2-1 in singles and finished the weekend with a combined singles record of 6-3, while also compiling a combined doubles record of 6-3. Dasso stressed the importance of her freshmen finally getting to play at home from a development standpoint.

“It’s really important for our freshmen to be in this environment,” Dasso said. “Playing at home in a hidden-dual type format where you’re playing next to your teammate, that’s good for them.”

The Illini entered the weekend with all new doubles pairs, having switched them up since playing in their last tournament almost three weeks ago. In their time off, Dasso shuffled every doubles pair, and it seemed to pay off this weekend. Each of the freshmen were paired with upperclassmen to form the doubles lineup for the weekend. Boone was matched with Falkin while Kwong played with Jamieson, but it was the tandem of Casati and Kopinski that stood out the most.

Casati and Kopinski stormed through the competition, winning 8-4 in each of their three doubles contests. In previous tournaments this fall Kopinski had been paired with Falkin, but Dasso decided to switch it up after the Midwest Regional tournament.

“I think there’s a lot of good chemistry with the pairings,” Dasso said. “That’s what you want to see as a coach when you’re finishing up the fall, and that’s important for us heading into the spring season.”

Overall, Dasso was happy with the effort the Illini showed in front of their home fans. Their final fall tournament begins Friday in Cambridge, Mass., at the Harvard Invitational before a two-month gap before the spring season starts in January.

“I think we showed a lot of growth,” Dasso said. “We’ve just got to maintain that and get better each and every day and bring that same consistency day in and day out to be ready for the spring.”

Alex can be reached at [email protected] and @aroux94.