Razorbacks Oust Illinois

Box Score (PDF)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Behind an electric home crowd, the No. 27 Arkansas women’s tennis team defeated Illinois 5-1 on Friday at Dills Indoor Tennis Center.

With the win, Arkansas improved to 9-2 overall and extended its win streak to six matches, while Illinois fell to 3-7.

The Razorbacks continued its doubles dominance, picking up victories at the No. 1 and 3 positions to win the doubles point for the sixth straight match.

Illinois struck first with a 6-1 win at No. 2. Arkansas evened the tally, thanks to a 6-3 victory at No. 3 from the tandem of junior Léolia Jeanjean and freshman Natsuho Arakawa. With the No. 1 match tied 5-5, the duo of senior co-captain Shannon Hudson and freshman Giulia Pairone held serve and then broke to win 7-5 and give Arkansas the early 1-0 advantage. Hudson and Pairone are 5-0 as a pair this season.

With the momentum in their favor, the Razorbacks quickly picked up three matches in singles to guarantee the win.

Junior Mia Jurasic was first off at No. 3, easing past her opponent 6-1, 6-1. Arakawa earned a 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 5, registering her 16th overall win and improving to 8-1 in dual matches. The match clincher came at No. 6 as Pairone won 6-1, 6-1, pushing her record to 5-0 on the season. Pairone is a combined 10-0 in singles and doubles since making her debut in the Razorbacks’ win at now No. 14-ranked Kansas on Feb. 11.

Play continued at the top two positions after the clinch but went unfinished at No. 4, where Jeanjean had just won a first-set tiebreaker 7-1.

No. 63 Hudson bested her opponent 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1, extending Arkansas’ lead to 5-0. It marked her third straight win and seventh overall at the top spot this spring. The Illini picked up their lone singles win at No. 2 to close out scoring.

Up Next
Arkansas will begin conference play on March 3, when it hosts Missouri. First serve is set for 6 p.m.

For more information on Arkansas Women’s Tennis, follow @RazorbackWTEN on Twitter.