Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Hosts Rival Illinois Friday
3/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
#26 Northwestern (5-4) vs. #54 Illinois (7-4)
Friday, March 20, 2015 • 5 p.m. CT
Combe Tennis Center
Evanston, Ill.
Live Scoring
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern women's tennis team returns to action after a two-week break to take on in-state rival Illinois inside the Combe Tennis Center at 5 p.m. Friday.
Northwestern holds a commanding 47-7 lead in the all-time series with the Fighting Illini, including having won 13 in a row dating back to the 2004-05 season. The Wildcats shut out Illinois, 7-0, a season ago in Evanston.
The Wildcats won at No. 42 Indiana their last time out. The 4-3 victory was the `Cats first on the road and fifth overall in the 2015 season. Rheeya Doshi and Brooke Rischbieth each picked up their first career singles dual win in the match.
Freshman Alex Chatt has been a force for Northwestern during her first season. Chatt has played to a 7-2 dual record and is undefeated in the Big Ten. She is 7-1 when playing in the fourth and fifth singles spots and has also amassed five doubles wins in duals and a 16-7 overall record.
Fellow freshman Erin Larner is 5-4 playing at the second, third and fourth positions and has an 18-8 overall record in singles to go with a 14-6 mark in doubles. Lok Sze Leung has built a 5-3 dual record and 16-9 mark overall in the third and fourth singles spots.
The Fighting Illini are still in search of their first conference win after dropping decisions to Penn State and Ohio State two weeks ago. Illinois is coming off a 4-3 win at South Florida last Sunday.
Melissa Kopinski and Louise Kwong team up on the nation's 68th-ranked doubles team. The duo is 6-2 in 2015, and they have won four matches in a row. Kopinski has been the strongest Illini player with a 7-2 record playing at the first, second and third positions. Alexis Casati is the lone singles player to have not suffered a conference loss.
Friday's match is the start of a busy stretch for Northwestern. The Wildcats travel to Tampa to take on South Florida on Tuesday, March 24 before heading to Michigan for weekend matchups with No. 13 Michigan (3/28) and Michigan State (3/29).
