Senior Brigette Zarazee dropped her first set at No. 6 against Lizzy Bennett, but came back to win the final two as the Illinois State womens tennis team fell to No. 1 Stanford, 6-1, Tuesday afternoon at a windy Taube Tennis Stadium.
Zarazee fell behind in the first set and lost 6-3, but then mounted a fierce comeback to win the final two sets 6-3 in each set.
Freshman Liina Suurvarik nearly upset Lauren Kalvaria, ranked No. 8 in the latest ITA singles poll. Suurvarik won her first set 7-6 but could not outlast Kalvaria in the final two, 7-5, 6-1.
Im really proud of the way our kids fought, head coach Chris Hoover said. Its too bad sometimes we have to play these kinds of matches and teams on the road. I know our Illinois State family and friends would be proud of the way these young women represent ISU and our athletics dept.
Suurvarik and Alesia Mikalayeva teamed at the No. 1 doubles spot and were edged by Kalvaria and Lauren Barnikow, 8-6, the No. 13 doubles team in the nation.
Im really excited for Brigette, its a great win for her to go out win in her senior year, Hoover said. I feel bad for Liina. She fought hard and Lauren is a great player. As night started to set in we had to turn on the lights and it got cold; it became a hostile environment against at top player in the country who did not want to loose. I was proud of the way she ocmpsed herself and made Lauren really step up and play.
We played in the worst conditions we have ever played in at home. Stanford coach Lele Forood said. Illinois State is a very competitive team and really made us go for our shots. We were fortunate enough to make enough of them to win.
Were really looking forward to our match at Purdue (Saturday) and excited to start playing at home, Hoover added. Hopefully we can build from this.
Illinois State 1 Stanford 6
February 6, 2001 Taube Tennis Stadium
Singles
1. Lauren Kalvaria (STN) def. Liina Suurvarik (ISU) 6-7, 7-5, 6-1
2. Gabriela Lastra (STN) def. Alesia Mikalayeva (ISU) 6-0, 6-4
3. Lauren Barnikow (STN) def. Zana Friganovic (ISU) 6-4, 6-4
4. Emilia Anderson (STN) def. Elizabeth Bingier (ISU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Sarah Pestieau (STN) def. Alana Hoffman (ISU) 6-0, 6-2
6. Brigette Zarazee (ISU) def. Lizzy Bennett (STN) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Doubles
1.Barnikow/Kalvaria (STN) def. Suurvarik/Mikalayeva (ISU) 8-6
2. Pestieau/Tokuda (STN) def. Bingier/Hoffman (ISU) 8-5
3. Anderson/Lastra (STN) def. Friganovic/Zarazee (ISU) 8-0
