Update from Coach Dasso:
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.