LUBBOCK, Texas — A historic run of firsts for the Illinois women's tennis team has reached its end.
A bid for the program's first-ever trip to the NCAA quarterfinals fell short as Illinois suffered a season-ending 4-2 loss to No. 11 Texas Tech in Saturday's NCAA second-round match.
The Illini got a quicker start than in Friday's opening round, with the duos of Sasha Belaya and Daniela Pedraza-Novak and Mia Rabinowitz and Asuka Kawai each winning in doubles to claim the team's first point.
Unlike the first round, though, the Illini struggled through singles play, with freshman Emilee Duong's dominant 6-3, 6-0 victory being the lone bright spot.