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EUGENE, Ore. – Fighting Illini women’s tennis extended its win streak to four matches with Friday’s 4-2 victory at No. 53 Oregon. The first win of Illinois’ Pacific Northwest trip saw head coach Evan Clark’s squad get on the board first and then follow up with three wins on the singles courts from the UO Student Tennis Center.
With the Illini’s fourth straight win, Illinois improved to 9-7 on the season and 5-1 in Big Ten play. The Orange and Blue are now 3-3 this season when playing away from home.
Illinois opened Friday’s action winning the doubles point for the sixth time of the season. The Orange and Blue tandem of Kimiko Cooper and Ariel Madatali cruised to a 6-0 win at No. 3 doubles before Cara Mester and Alice Xu teamed up for a 6-3 victory to clinch the open point.
This season, Cooper and Madatali are now 2-0 when working together while Mester and Xu improved to 2-1 as a duo.
Mester pushed the Illinois advantage to 2-0 with a straight-set 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 6 singles. The sophomore won her third straight decision with Friday’s match and has now won eight of her last nine matches. Across the season, Mester owns a 14-4 record, which includes an 8-2 dual match mark, and 5-1 reading in Big Ten play.
McKenna Schaefbauer followed with a 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 1 singles for her fourth-straight win. The Illini senior owns victories in seven of her last eight decisions. For the first time in her career, Schaefbauer has achieved a 20-win singles campaign with her overall record sitting at 20-7. The Normal, Ill., native holds an 11-3 record in dual play and 5-1 mark in Big Ten outings.
Oregon got on the board with wins at No. 5 and 3, respectively, to pull the score within 3-2.
After falling 6-2 in her first set of singles play, Cooper earned a 6-4 decision in the second frame. The Illini freshman followed that up with a 6-3 third-set win to clinch the 4-2 victory for Illinois. Cooper’s clinch at No. 2 singles was her first of the season and makes the Australian the fifth different Illini to secure a match for the Orange and Blue this year. Cooper has now won her last four decisions and improved to 7-5 overall and 3-0 in Big Ten play.
The match at No. 4 singles would go unfinished.
NEXT UP
Illinois will close out play from the Pacific Northwest on Sunday at No. 20 Washington at 2 p.m. CT.
#52 ILLINOIS (9-7, 5-1) 4, #53 OREGON (11-7, 2-4) 2
Doubles:
1 – Jagare/Symons (ORE) def. Tess Bucher/McKenna Schaefbauer (ILL) – 6-4
2 – Cara Mester/Alice Xu (ILL) def. Furutani/Santitto (ORE) – 6-3
3 – Kimiko Cooper/Ariel Madatali (ILL) def. Daughters/Mihulka (ORE) – 6-0
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles:
1 – No. 29 McKenna Schaefbauer (ILL) def. Tilde Jagare (ORE) – 6-1, 6-3
2 – Kimiko Cooper (ILL) def. Olivia Symons (ORE) – 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
3 – Virginia Crocker (ORE) def. Ariel Madatali (ILL) – 6-2, 6-3
4 – Tess Bucher (ILL) vs. Patsy Daughters (ORE) – 7-6(4), 4-5, unfinished
5 – Hinata Furutani (ORE) def. Alice Xu (ILL) – 6-4, 6-2
6 – Cara Mester (ILL) def. Bridget Mihulka (ORE) – 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 6, 1, 5, 3, 2
Duration: 2:40
Played outdoors
