URBANA — Illinois women's tennis matched a program record for wins last season. That 22nd victory came in the first round of the NCAA tournament, pushing the Illini to the Round of 32 for just the third time in program history.
But even with last year's success, Illinois coach Evan Clark feels much better about where his team stands now heading into the Big Ten tournament.
The third-seeded Illini are just 14-10 on the season in advance of today's 2 p.m. match against sixth-seeded Minnesota in Lincoln, Neb., but Clark sees more promise in this 14-10 than last year's 20-4 pre-Big Ten tournament mark.