The Illinois Women’s Tennis team upset #31 Ohio State Sunday with a score of 5-2 on the Buckeyes Senior Day. The ladies were able to win their second straight doubles point with wins from  courts 1 and 2 . The team then moved on singles to where they got quick wins from Momei Qu and Megan Fudge. The match was clinched by Junior Shivani Dave who was able to defeat her opponent 7-6, 7-6 in 3 sets. The ladies are currently ranked 58 nationally and are 5-3 in the Big Ten.

Come out this weekend, April 19th and 20th, to see the last few matches of the season. This is also the last time to get you sweet ACES t-shirt!! See you on court!

The Illinois Women’s Tennis team was on the road again this weekend as they traveled first to take on the Wolverines of Michigan and then on to Penn State and the Nittany Lions.  The the #22 ranked Wolverines were too much for the ladies as they lost 5-2. The two lone points came from big single victories by Shivani Dave and Kristina Minor.

Next, the team put up a big fight and it paid off as they defeated Penn State 4-3. The ladies were able to gain the doubles points with wins from court 2 consisting of Leigh Finnigan and Marissa Lambropoulos and court 3 with Kristina Minor and Annie McCarthy.

The ladies are now 4-2 in the Big Ten and 8-8 overall. The team will return home April 19th and 20th to celebrate their two seniors: Momei Qui and Alejandra Meza Cuadra. Be sure to come out to the last matches of the season!!

Hey Illini Aces,

This weekend the Women’s Tennis Team went 1-1 against Big Ten foes. The ladies came in to the weekend 2-0 in the conference with victories over Michigan State and Purdue. They got another victory under their belt when they defeated Wisconsin 6-1 on Saturday. The ladies swept all the singles points but unfortunately gave up the doubles point. On Sunday, the team took on #1 ranked Northwestern and lost 7-0. Make sure to come out April 19th and 20th to support the ladies one last time and to pick up your T-SHIRT!

As the new season slowly approaches, Illinois Women’s Tennis players are working hard in order to achieve incredible goals. Last season didn’t go quite as well as the team wished; however they look forward to great success this coming year. The team only lost one player to graduation, and have signed some key recruits for the upcoming season. The coaching staff is still young, seeing as this will be head coach Michelle Dasso and assistant coach David Emery’s second season in charge of the program.

The Illini have some key players to look for on the courts including returning sophomore Megan Fudge all the way from Kaarst, Germany. She led the team in the singles division, finishing the season with a record of twenty-one wins and fifteen losses. Fudge also contributed a significant role in the doubles division with her partner Emily Wang. The two played at the number one doubles spot for quite a few matches and finished the season with four wins and nine losses. Next season holds great things for Illinois Women’s Tennis so get ready to come out and cheer with Aces.

The Illini women lost both of their big ten matches to Penn State and Michigan respectively.  On Saturday, Illinois lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to rival Penn State.  Illinois started off strong by capturing the doubles point with fierce determination.  First off the court was a quick win for the Nittany Lions pairing of Shular/Abraham with an 8-1 victory over Dave/Meza Cuadra at #2 doubles.  Fudge/Wang held off an attempted comeback by Niculescu/Holzberg at #1 singles with an 8-6 win.  To clinch the doubles point and take the early advantage was a hard fought 9-7 victory for Minor/Qu over McCarthy/Dohanics at #3 doubles.  Despite heading into singles with the crucial doubles point, Illinois was unable to get it done in singles.  At #4 singles Penn State’s Shular proved to be too consistent for freshman Kristina Minor cruising to a 6-1,6-1 victory.  Freshman standout Megan Fudge took care of Niculescu winning 6-4,6-0 to give the Illini back the overall lead at the top spot.  Momei Qu was next off the courts with a 6-3,6-2 loss to Abraham at #2 singles.  Shortly after senior captain Emily Wang fell to McCarthy at #6 singles 6-4,7-5.  Dohanics of Penn State then clinched the win with a 4-6,6-2,6-2 victory at #5 singles vs. Meza Cuadra.  Seconds later sophomore Shivani Dave beat Holzberg 6-2,4-6,7-6 at #3 singles.  We put ourselves in a great situation sneaking away with the doubles point but were disappointed we couldn’t win where we needed to in singles.

On Sunday the #23rd ranked Michigan Wolverines blanked the Fighting Illini.  Illinois struggled executing fundamentals in the doubles portion.  Fudge/Wang were first off the courts at #1 doubles losing to Kuehn/Sugiyama 8-1. Shortly after, Minor/Qu lost 8-2 at #3 doubles to Shafner/Howard for the Wolverines to secure the doubles point.  Michigan pair Delicata/Mahtani continued the sweep with an 8-4 win at #2 doubles vs. Dave/Meza Cuadra.  Illinois regrouped and stepped up their intensity level in the singles portion.  Freshman Kristina Minor was first off the court at #4 singles with a 6-4,6-2 loss to Mahtani of Michigan.  At #6 singles senior Emily Wang lost 6-3,6-2 to Shafner.  To clinch the win for the Wolverines #84 ranked Kuehn was victorious 6-3,6-0 over Megan Fudge at the top spot.  #85 ranked Chisako Sugiyama beat junior Momei Qu at #2 singles 6-0,7-6.  Qu gave everything she had to claw her away back into the match after a tough first set.  At #3 singles sophomore Shivani Dave almost walked away victorious but fell short 6-3, 6-7(4), 10-6 to Delicata.  Junior Alejandra Meza Cuadra never gave up running down ball after ball but fell 6-2,7-6(2) to Exon.  The way we battled in singles is going to make us a better team heading into the last few weeks of our season.