Chambana Sun

Illinois women's tennis team faced a challenging match against the No. 20-ranked Washington, ultimately falling short with a score of 4-1. Despite taking an early lead by securing the doubles point, Illinois could not maintain their advantage in singles play.

The match took place at the Atkins Tennis Center, where Illinois has now moved to a 7-7 record for home games this season. Their overall season record stands at 8-9, with a Big Ten conference record of 3-3. This loss marks their sixth defeat against Top-25 ranked opponents this year.

Washington improved its season record to 12-2 and holds a league play record of 5-1 following this victory.

In doubles competition, McKenna Schaefbauer and Kasia Treiber secured a win in the No. 3 doubles match with a score of 6-4. After Washington won on the top doubles court, Alice Xu and Violeta Martinez clinched the crucial point for Illinois with a hard-fought victory at No. 2 doubles, winning 7-6(5) after trailing in the tiebreaker.

This marked Illinois' tenth doubles point of the season and fourth within Big Ten matches. The pairings of Schaefbauer/Treiber and Martinez/Xu have shown consistent performance throughout the season.

However, Washington made a strong comeback in singles matches, claiming victories at positions No. 6, No. 3, No. 1, and No. 5 to secure their overall win.

Looking ahead, Illinois will be on the road next weekend as they face Michigan teams in Ann Arbor and East Lansing.