CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Freshman Lan Mi continued a strong start to her collegiate career, and sophomore Jenny Wong also recorded a singles victory for the Cornell women's tennis team on Sunday, but Illinois outlasted the Big Red for a 4-2 victory at Atkins Tennis Center.
 
Though the Illini started off the day by locking up the doubles point, the Big Red rebounded by winning the first set in four of the six singles matches. Two of those came via tiebreakers from sophomore Lauren Stein at #4 and Wong at #6. Illinois got a second point by winning in straight sets at #3, but Cornell stormed back to even the score at 2 with wins from Wong and Mi at #1.
 
That left the balance of the day on the shoulders of three matches going to third sets. Illinois wrapped up the first one at #5, then service breaks in the other two matches had Cornell on the brink. But Stein went on a run to take the lead in her match and Nguyen rebounded late at #2. The Illini was eventually able to hold on for the victory in the first-ever meeting between the programs.
 
Cornell returns home for its next three matches, starting with a visit from Colgate at noon Saturday.
 
ILLINOIS 4, CORNELL 2
Sunday's results
Singles
1. Lan Mi (C) def. Kate Duong, 7-5, 6-4
2. Ashley Yeah (I) def. Katherine Nguyen, 6-1, 2-6, 7-5
3. Josie Frazier (I) def. Maria Adiaconitei, 6-0, 6-4
4. Lauren Stein (C) vs. Megan Heuser, DNF
5. Kasia Treiber (I) def. Valerie Ho, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
6. Jenny Wong (C) def. Kida Ferrari, 7-6, 6-2
Doubles
1. Duong/Heuser (I) def. Adiaconitei/Stein, 6-2
2. Frazier/Yeah (I) def. Alexandra Savu/Wong, 6-0
3. Ho/Nguyen (C) vs. Emily Casati/Treiber, DNF