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Illini Finish First Day of USTA Clay Court Challenge
Head
coach Michelle Dasso took a team of four Illini to compete at the USTA
Clay Court Invitational in Orlando, Florida. A round each of singles
and doubles competition took place on the first day of the event hosted
by Florida State University.
Starting the day off for the
orange and blue was senior duo Melissa Kopinski and Julia Jamieson. The
tandem faced off against USF’s Garrido-Rivas/Bessonova combination but
fell short in the 8-7(1) decision to be eliminated from the “A” doubles
bracket.
In other doubles competition Louise Kwong and
Alexis Casati received a first-round bye after being seeded as one of
the “B” bracket’s top four pairs. The Illini will see their first
action of the event on Friday against Clemson’s Eidukonyte and Ruiz
team at 2:30 p.m. CT.
Kwong notched Illinois’ lone victory
on the day when she topped USF’s Vera Bessanova 6-3, 6-2. The sophomore
will advance to Friday’s 8:30 a.m. CT match against Northwestern’s Lon
Sze Leung in the “B” singles bracket.
Sophomore Alexis
Casati matched up against Clemson’s fifth-seeded Tristen Dewar in a
contest featured on ESPN3. Casati grabbed an early lead after taking
the first set 6-0 but was unable to hold up as Dewar won the final two
sets 6-3 and 7-5 in the “A” bracket.
“Louise obviously
played well picking up a win but the highlight of the day was Casati
despite coming up just short 7-5 in the third set.” Head coach Michelle
Dasso said. “Lex's match was aired on ESPN3, on center court, with
music playing the entire match, and 80-degree weather. It was big time
tennis with plenty of exciting, lengthy no-add points. Lex woke up this
morning not feeling particularly well and she battled through and did
not show her opponent once she was feeling queasy. That is a sign of a
mentally strong athlete.”
Kopinski was also placed in the
“A” singles bracket and met Virginia Tech’s Elena Cerezo-Codina in the
first round of action. The senior took the first set 6-2 but
Cerezo-Codina came back to win the next two sets 6-1 and 6-4.
Illinois’
other senior, Julia Jamieson, drew one of the “B” brackets top seeds in
the University of Miami’s Wendy Zhang. Jamieson fell 6-2, 6-0 in the
contest.
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