Women’s Tennis Heads to Baylor, ITA All-American Championships

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fall action is set to begin for the Fighting Illini as the squad looks to divide and conquer with the H-E-B Invite and ITA All-American Championships on deck. A majority of the team will head to Waco, Texas, for the H-E-B Invite from Friday, Sept. 29 through Sunday, Oct. 1. ITA All-American Championships will run from Saturday, Sept. 30 through Sunday, Oct. 8 for Megan Heuser and Kate Duong.

Eight of the nine Fighting Illini on head coach Evan Clark‘s roster will head to Baylor for hidden-dual style action across the weekend. Meanwhile, Heuser and associate head coach Jacob Eddins will head to Cary, N.C., for the ITA All-American Championships as the junior will compete in singles pre-qualifying beginning on Saturday. Following weekend play, Duong will head over to North Carolina and join Heuser for the doubles main draw beginning on Wednesday, Oct. 6.

Both events will mark the first collegiate competition of the fall for Illinois women’s tennis after a trio of Illini competed unattached at the Northwestern-hosted UTR College Circuit Sept. 16-17.

Illinois newcomers McKenna Schaefbauer (transfer from South Carolina), Rosie Seccia (freshman) and Alice Xu (freshman) are all expected to make their debuts in the Orange and Blue.

H-E-B INVITE

The H-E-B Invitational, hosted at Baylor, opens Friday with doubles beginning at 9 a.m. at the Hurd Tennis Center, with singles to follow at 10 a.m., and a second round of doubles to close the day at 1:30 p.m. Saturday’s schedule is identical to Friday’s format. The three-day tournament wraps up on Sunday at 9 a.m. with doubles play, followed by a round of singles. 

In the chance of inclement weather, competition will be moved inside to the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center. Baylor, Denver, Illinois, Lamar, Missouri, Nebraska, SMU and Tennessee will all be represented in Waco.

ITA ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Over in Cary, N.C., at the ITA All-American Championships, singles play will use best-two-out-of-three sets with no-ad scoring. Main-draw doubles action will utilize two sets with a 10-point match tiebreak in lieu of a third set with no-ad scoring.

Duong and Heuser enter the doubles competition ranked as the No. 8 doubles team in the nation.

SCHEDULE & DRAW SIZES

• Pre-Qualifying | Sat, Sept. 30 – Sun, Oct. 1

  • Singles Draw of 96 – Megan Heuser…