University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Illinois
Minnesota Falls to Ranked Illinois in Champaign
3/18/2022 7:50:00 PM | Tennis
Gophers drop Big Ten Opener at No. 68 Illinois
The University of Minnesota women's tennis team visited Champaign this evening, as they sought consecutive Big Ten road wins after their previous victory over Iowa. Minnesota has not defeated Illinois since 2011, and were unable to break the streak on Friday. The Fighting Illini earned a 4-1 win against the Gophers, and opened their Big Ten account on a winning note.
With this result, Minnesota moves to 12-4 on the season, 0-1 in conference matches. The Gophers return to play on Sunday, as they head north to Evanston for a matchup with No. 39 Northwestern.
Illinois won both doubles matches, and three of four singles competitions which finished.
In doubles play, Illinois won matches at No. 1 and No. 2, securing the point for the Illini. With both matches knotted at three points apiece, Illinois closed strong. The matches finished 6-4 at No. 1, and 6-3 at No. 2. The third match went unfinished on account of prior results.
In singles, Illinois posted wins at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 5. Straight-set match wins at No. 1 and No. 5 gave the Illini a 3-0 lead. Minnesota earned their victory at No. 4, as Maria Rizzolo won consecutive sets, closing the second with a hard-fought tiebreak. Emilee Duong rebounded with a 6-2 second set victory, before eventually falling to her former teammate.
Matches at No. 3 and No. 6 went unfinished.
Next Up:
Minnesota returns to play in Illinois on Sunday. They head to Evanston to take on Northwestern in their fourth road match of the Big Ten Season. Live scoring and streaming will be offered for Sunday's 12:00 p.m. match through Northwestern Athletics. Live coverage and updates will be available on GopherWTennis Twitter for each match. Recap and Statistics will be posted upon result completion.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
1,5,4,2
Players Mentioned
