Jan. 20, 2007

Milwaukee - The Marquette women's tennis squad opened the 2007 spring season by dropping a closely contested match against Illinois, 3-4.

With the doubles point hanging in the air, Lauren Little and Shannon Brown lost a close match on a tiebreaker, 9-8 (4)*. That point would have given Marquette the doubles point and ultimately the match.

"We had our chance." Coach Jody Bronson said. "If we could have gotten the match point in the doubles match it would have given us the win."

The final point of the match was won by Marquette junior Erin Watkins on a tiebreaker in the number four singles match over Shivani Dave, 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (3). Watkins won her three-hour long match after recovering from losing her second set, 0-6.

Despite not coming away with a victory, Coach Bronson was pleased with her team's performance. "Last year we were not even in the game when we played Illinois," Bronson said. "This year we came out, were very competitive and showed a lot of maturity."

"Obviously we are disappointed with the results, but the team came out and showed a lot of enthusiasm and intensity."

Illinois def. Marquette, 4-3

Doubles
1. Megan Fudge/Bryce Marable (Ill.) def. Lauren Little/Shannon Brown (MU) - 9-8 (4)*
2. Maria Calbeto/Kylie Moore (MU) def. Emily Wang/Shavani Dave (Ill.) - 8-5
3. Momei Qu/Kristina Minor (Ill.) def. Dominika Dabrowski/Maggie Wilson (MU) - 8-3

Singles
1. Megan Fudge (Ill.) def. Lauren Little(MU) - 6-3, 6-4
2. Momei Qu (Ill.) def. Kylie Moore (MU) - 6-4, 6-4
3. Maria Calbeto (MU) def. Bryce Marable (Ill.) - 6-4, 6-2
4. Erin Watkins (MU) def. Shivani Dave (Ill.) - 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (3)*
5. Kristina Minor (Ill.) def. Shannon Brown (MU) - 6-3, 6-2
6. Robin Metzler (MU) def. Alejandra Meza Cuadra (Ill.) - 6-1, 6-3