URBANA — Dani Pedraza Novak spent the 2 1 / 2 months leading up to this spring tennis season ... not playing a single minute of tennis. A right elbow injury suffered at the end of Illinois' fall schedule kept the Illini senior completely sidelined.
While Pedraza Novak returned in time for Illinois' official season opener against Kansas at the ITA Kick-off Weekend in Stillwater, Okla., in late January, she wasn't 100 percent. Her results at the beginning of the season showed just that.
The Illinois women's tennis team was in a similar position. After blitzing through the early portion of the schedule a year ago in a breakout 2018 season, the Illini had a rough start this spring.