MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin women's tennis team dropped a heartbreaker on Friday evening against No. 65 Illinois, falling 4-3 at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

"We definitely put ourselves in as good a position as you can to win the match, with winning every first set," said head coach Tina Samara. "To go out and win four singles matches isn't easy, but to win six first sets, I feel like we've now gotten to a point where we're constantly putting ourselves in situations to win and we need to figure out how to actually win."

Despite the Badgers (3-7, 0-2 B1G) taking the initial lead in singles play and leading 3-1 in the match, the Illini stormed back to close out the final three matches to win.

Illinois got on the board first after winning two of the three doubles matches. Louise Kwong and Ines Vias of the Fighting Illini defeated senior Lauren Chypyha and freshman Kendall Kirsch, 6-1 at the No. 1 position. Alexis Casati and Daniela Pedraza Novak secured the overall point for Illinois, defeating senior Lauren Burich and sophomore Kelsey Grambeau in a hard-fought battle, 7-5.

Junior Sydney Rider and sophomore Ekaterina Stepanova earned the lone doubles win for UW, taking down Jerricka Boone and Madie Baillon, 6-3 at the No. 2 slot.

In singles play, Chypyha made quick work of Kwong, 6-3, 6-1, at the No. 1 spot, earning her 22nd win of the season tying the match up a 1 apiece. Grambeau followed suit, notching a win over Madie Baillon, 6-1, 6-2, at the No. 5 position.

Senior Lauren Burich put the Badgers up 3-1 after defeating Daniela Pedraza Novak, 6-4, 6-3, at the No. 6 slot.

Unfortunately, these victories were not enough to register the overall win for UW as Stepanova, Kirsch and Avgerinos were unable to hold after first-set wins.

"The good news is, if we can go out and win all six first sets again against Illinois, then there is no reason we can't beat William and Mary this Sunday," said Samara. "If we can piece everything together, we've brought different things to the table each match, but we haven't brought the entire product. So if we can do that, which we've shown that we have the ability to do, then I think we're very dangerous."

Wisconsin will get another chance to prove itself on Sunday as it hosts No. 30 William & Mary. Match time is set for 10 a.m. (CT) at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium and admission is free to the public.

Results - March 4
No. 65 Illinois 4, Wisconsin 3

DOUBLES
1. Kwong/Vias (ILL) def. Chypyha/Kirsch (UW), 6-1
2. Rider/Stepanova (UW) def. Boone/Baillon (ILL), 6-3
3. Casati/Pedraza Novak (ILL) def. Grambeau/Burich (UW), 7-5

SINGLES
1. Lauren Chypyha (UW) def. Louise Kwong (ILL), 6-3, 6-1
2. Alexis Casati (ILL) def. Ekaterina Stepanova (UW), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
3. Ines Vias (ILL) def. Kendall Kirsch (UW), 6-7, 6-1, 6-1
4. Jerricka Boone (ILL) def. Maria Avgerinos (UW), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
5. Kelsey Grambeau (UW) def. Madie Baillon (ILL), 6-1, 6-2
6. Lauren Burich (UW) def. Daniela Pedraza Novak (ILL), 6-4, 6-3