No. 16 UCLA Outlasts Illinois Friday Night

URBANA, Ill. – Fighting Illini women's tennis fell to No. 16 UCLA, 4-0, on Friday evening. Illinois opened its final home weekend of the regular season playing outdoors against the Bruins from Atkins Tennis Center. 

Illinois moved to 9-11 on the season and 5-5 in Big Ten play with the decision. No. 16 UCLA is now 12-6 overall and 6-4 in league outings. 

UCLA won the doubles point with decisions at No. 3 and 1, respectively. Action at No. 2 doubles went unfinished.

The Bruins doubled their lead with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles. From there, a win at No. 3 singles gave UCLA a 3-0 advantage.

After winning just one first set across the board, Illinois responded with four second frames in favor of the Orange and Blue to force third sets.

Action at No. 1 singles would ultimately determine the match as the Bruins' No. 17-ranked player won 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

In a court that would ultimately go unfinished but prolong the overall match, Tess Bucher trailed 2-5 in set two but won five-straight games to force a third set to keep Illinois alive. No. 4 and 6 singles would also go unfinished on Friday.

NEXT UP

Illinois will host No. 10 USC on Sunday for its Senior Day match. Trojans and Illini will square off on Sunday at 12 p.m.

#57 ILLINOIS (9-11, 5-5) 0, #16 UCLA (12-6, 6-4) 4

Doubles:
1 - No. 35 Center/Fakih (UCLA) def. Tess Bucher/Alice Xu (ILL) - 6-2
2 - McKenna Schaefbauer/Ariel Madatali (ILL) vs. Lutkeymeyer/Crossley (UCLA) - 3-5, unfinished
3 - Guichard/Chung (UCLA) def. Cara Mester/Lizzie Isyanov (ILL) - 6-0

Order of finish: 3, 1

Singles: 
1 - No. 17 Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer (UCLA) def. No. 47 McKenna Schaefbauer (ILL) - 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
2 - No. 43 Mayu Crossley (UCLA) def. Kimiko Cooper (ILL) - 6-1, 6-2
3 - Kate Fakih (UCLA) def. Ariel Madatali (ILL) - 6-4, 6-1
4 - Alice Xu (ILL) vs. Bianca Fernandez (UCLA) - 4-6, 6-2, 3-3, unfinished
5 - Tess Bucher (ILL) vs. Ahmani Guichard (UCLA) - 5-7, 7-5, 0-1, unfinished
6 - Cara Mester (ILL) vs. Olivia Center (UCLA) - 4-6, 6-4, 2-2, unfinished

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

Duration: 2:33
Attendance: 128
Played outdoors