URBANA, Ill. - The Western Michigan women's tennis team had some early success, but it was not enough to overcome a strong Illinois effort as the Broncos fell 5-2 to the Fighting Illini in Urbana on Friday.  The Broncos fall tao 6-8 with the loss, while the Illini improve to 4-6.

The Broncos started out strong in singles play, winning two of the first three matches against the Illini.  Rachel Denny was the first to notch a result as she defeated Leigh Finnegan 6-2, 6-4 in the No. 5 match.  After Maggie Remynse battled but ultimately lost in the No. 1 match, Maria Nivia posted a 6-2, 7-5 result over Chelcie Abajian to give the Broncos an early 2-1 edge.  However, the Illini notched wins in the next three matches, including a wild three-set result between the reigning MAC Player of the Week Jill Pastunink and Illinois's Allison Falkin that saw Pastunink tie the match with a tiebreaker win in the second set before falling 10-8 in the third.

The Illini swept doubles play three matches to none, with the best WMU effort coming in the No. 2 match; the combination of Nini Sushashvili and Nivia forced a late tiebreaker before falling 8-7 (7-3).

2010-11 Western Michigan Tennis
Western Michigan vs Illinois