#44 Huskers to Face #19 Illini at Big Ten Tournament

Minneapolis – The No. 6 seed Nebraska women’s tennis team travels to the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis on Friday for a 4:30 p.m. matchup against No. 4 seed Illinois. The winner of the second-round dual will advance to the semifinals on Saturday.

In Big Ten standings, the No. 19 nationally ranked Fighting Illini (20-4, 8-3 Big Ten) are just one spot above the No. 44 nationally ranked Huskers (18-6, 7-4 Big Ten), who are tied with Ohio State and Purdue for fourth place in the standings. Despite a 4-3 win over the Buckeyes in March, a 4-3 loss to the Boilermakers determined the sixth place seed for the Big Red. Illinois’ only losses in the season were to No. 2 North Carolina, No. 12 Northwestern, No. 23 Michigan and No. 28 Ohio State.

Illinois leads all-time series against Nebraska, 5-3, after the Huskers netted a 4-2 victory over the Fighting Illini at their last matchup on April 3, 2017. Returning junior Paula Del Cueto Castillo earned both a doubles and singles win in the match, as she contributed to a 6-3 doubles victory with alumna Mary Hanna over Fighting Illini returning junior Ines Vias and alumna Louise Kwong, and nabbed a 6-1, 7-6 victory over Illinois’ returning junior Jaclyn Switkes. Returning sophomores Hayley Haakenstad and Claire Reifeis grabbed a 6-3 doubles win over Fighting Illini alumna Alexis Casati and junior returner Daniela Pedraza Novak in the dual, and junior returner Vasanti Shinde pulled in another win for the Huskers in her 6-4, 7-6 defeat of alumna Kwong.

The winner of the match on Friday afternoon will advance to play either No. 2 seed Michigan, No. 7 seed Michigan State or No. 10 seed Indiana on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. CT.

Fans can follow along with the matches through live stats and video provided by the University of Minnesota. Stay up to date with the Huskers by visiting Huskers.com for results and recaps following the match or by following the team on Twitter @HuskersWTennis.