URBANA, Ill. – Fighting Illini women's tennis suffered a 4-1 loss to No. 10 USC on Sunday from Atkins Tennis Center. Indoor action opened with the Illini taking the doubles point before the Lady of Troy picked up four points on the singles courts.
Illinois moved to 9-12 on the season and 5-6 in Big Ten play with the decision. No. 10 USC is now 17-5 overall and 10-1 in league outings.Â
The Fighting Illini struck first, claiming the doubles point for the seventh time this season and first since March 27 at Oregon. USC picked up a win at No. 2 doubles before Illinois sealed the deal with victories at No. 3 and 1, respectively. Illinois joins UCLA as the only teams in league play to take a doubles point off of USC this season.
At No. 3 doubles, the Illini tandem of Lizzie Isyanov and Cara Mester earned a 6-3 win to climb to 3-2 when working together this season. Mester improved to a team-best 16-9 overall in doubles play this season with the win.
Over at No. 1 doubles, Illinois' top duo of Alice Xu and Tess Bucher earned an upset of USC's No. 24-ranked duo (Fairclough/Mahendran). Action went to a tiebreaker that saw the Orange and Blue take a 4-0 lead out of the gate. The Lady of Troy knotted the breaker at 4-4 before the Illini took the final three points to secure the doubles point for Illinois. Xu and Bucher improved to 12-12 when working together this season.
In singles play, USC evened the score at 1-1 with the decision at No. 3 before going up 2-1 with a win at No. 2. The Lady of Troy extended their lead with the decision at No. 5 singles and clinched the match with a win on the top court.
NEXT UP
With the home slate concluded, Illinois will wrap up regular season play on the road at Rutgers (April 17) and Maryland (April 19) next weekend.
#57 ILLINOIS (9-12, 5-6) 1, #10 USC (17-5, 10-1) 4
Doubles:
1 - Tess Bucher/Alice Xu (ILL) def. No. 24 Fairclough/Mahendran (USC) - 7-6(4)
2 - Charney/Haddad (USC) def. McKenna Schaefbauer/Ariel Madatali (ILL) - 6-4Â
3 - Cara Mester/Lizzie Isyanov (ILL) def. Zozaya/Hossam (USC) - 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles:Â
1 - No. 21 Jana Hossam Salah (USC) def. No. 47 McKenna Schaefbauer (ILL) - 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
2 - Imogen Haddad (USC) def. Kimiko Cooper (ILL) - 6-0, 7-6(3)
3 - No. 125 Eugenia Zozaya (USC) def. Ariel Madatali (ILL) - 6-1, 6-1
4 - Alice Xu (ILL) vs. No. 51 Emma Charney (USC) - 6-2, 1-6, 3-3, unfinished
5 - Krisha Mahendran (USC) def. Tess Bucher (ILL) - 6-4, 6-3
6 - Cara Mester (ILL) vs. Daniela Borruel (USC) - 2-6, 6-5, unfinished
Order of finish: 3, 2, 5, 1
Duration: 2:46
Attendance: 116
Played indoors
