Big Ten Tournament Up Next for Fighting Illini

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 38-ranked Illinois women's tennis team opens the 2024 postseason on Thursday morning in the Big Ten Tournament hosted by Michigan. The Orange and Blue will face the winner of No. 12-seeded Rutgers and No. 13-seeded Michigan State on Thursday at 9 a.m. CT from the Varsity Tennis Center.

Rutgers enters the tournament with an 11-11 overall record, including a 2-9 mark in conference play. The Scarlet Knights have yet to play a neutral match this season.

Michigan State heads into the tournament with a 10-15 overall record and an 1-10 reading in Big Ten action. The Spartans are 1-1 in neutral matches this season.

No. 38 Illinois is 16-8 on the season, including an 8-3 record in Big Ten play.

LAST TIME OUT

To close the final weekend of the regular season, Illinois earned a hard-fought 4-1 win at Penn State to open the weekend. The Fighting Illini earned their 14th doubles point of the season before McKenna Schaefbauer, Josie Frazier, and Kasia Treiber earned singles victories.

At No. 15 Ohio State, the Buckeyes won the doubles point and would go up 3-0 before Illinois got on the board. From there, Alice Xu and Kasia Treiber earned singles victories before OSU won by the final 4-2 margin. UI was the first team in a month to tally two points against Ohio State.

ILLINI VS. THE FIELD

Illinois is 9-0 all-time against Rutgers, including 7-0 under head coach Evan Clark.

Illinois holds the edge over Michigan State in the all-time series, 38-13. Under head coach Evan Clark, Illinois is 7-1 against the Spartans.

ILLINI NOTES

• On April 24, Megan Heuser was recognized as a Big Ten All-Conference athlete - the first honor of the sort of her career.
• Alice Xu was tabbed a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree by the league office.
• After receiving votes in the final two top-25 polls, Illinois moved up to No. 24 in the first computerized rankings of the season. The ranking was the best by the Illini since the 2019 campaign.
  • The Illini now sit at No. 38 with a 16-8 record.
• On Feb. 21, Kasia Treiber was tabbed the Big Ten Women's Tennis Player of the Week - the first honor of her career. Treiber posted a 2-0 weekend at No. 3 singles in the Fighting Illini's wins over Brown and Marshall at Atkins Tennis Center. Both were straight-set victories.
• Illinois finished with an 11-1 record when playing at the Atkins Tennis Center this season.
• Megan Heuser and Alice Xu are 9-4 as a partnership this season.
  • After an 8-1 start when working together in doubles play, Heuser and Xu made their first appearance in the ITA rankings at No. 35 on March 5.
  • The duo is currently ranked No. 61 in the ITA doubles rankings.
• With Kate Duong healthy again, Heuser and Duong reconnected on the doubles court in Illinois' victory vs. Purdue, earning a 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles
  • Duong and Heuser returned to the ITA doubles rankings on April 16, coming in at No. 83.
  • Duong and Heuser own a 5-6 record when working together this season, including a 1-1 mark in dual play.
• Freshman Alice Xu registered the first clinch of her collegiate career against Northwestern on March 30, a result that moved her overall singles record to 10-4 in addition to her 6-0 mark in duals. She has gone on to pick up two more victories since the clinch, improving her record to 12-4 overall, 8-0 in duals, and 7-0 in Big Ten play.
• Head coach Evan Clark is in his ninth year as the head coach of Illinois women's tennis, holds an overall dual record of 130-83 (.610), and is 66-31 (.680) in Big Ten play during his time as an Illini. Including his time as the head coach at UNC-Wilmington, Clark owns a 161-94 record overall.
• The Illini are coming off an 18-10 season with an 8-3 Big Ten record in 2022-23. The Illini's 18 wins tied the sixth-most in a single season in program history. UI earned its 14th appearance to the NCAA Team Tournament in program history. The last time Illinois made the NCAA Tournament as a team was the 2019 campaign. The 2023 appearance marked the third with Clark at the helm.
• Illinois returns six of its eight players from last season, including fifth-year senior Josie Frazier and senior Kate Duong. Additionally, Megan Heuser, Kasia Treiber, and Kida Ferrari return for their junior campaigns, and Violeta Martinez begins her sophomore dual season. The Illini welcomed South Carolina transfer, but Illinois native, McKenna Schaefbauer along with freshmen Rosie Seccia and Alice Xu.

DOUBLES POINTS

Jan. 14 vs. EIU - 2: Ferrari/Martinez, 3: Treiber/Xu
Jan. 20 vs. No. 15 Duke - 2: Duong/Frazier, 3: Ferrari/Martinez
Feb. 11 vs. Ole Miss - 2: Heuser/Xu, 3: Martinez/Treiber
Feb. 18 vs. Marshall - 1: Heuser/Xu, 2: Schaefbauer/Martinez
Feb. 23 vs. Tulsa - 1: Heuser/Xu, 2: Schaefbauer/Martinez
Feb. 23 vs. Wake Forest - 1: Heuser/Xu, 3: Frazier/Ferrari
March 1 vs. Washington - 1: Heuser/Xu, 2: Schaefbauer/Martinez
March 15 vs. Maryland - 1: Heuser/ Xu, 3: Schaefbauer/Treiber
March 17 vs. Rutgers - 2: Ferrari/Frazier, 3: Schaefbauer/Treiber
March 22 at Iowa - 2: Ferrari/Frazier, 3: Schaefbauer/Treiber
April 5 vs. Minnesota - 2: Ferrari/Frazier, 3: Schaefbauer/Treiber
April 7 at Wisconsin - 2: Ferrari/Frazier, 3: Schaefbauer/Treiber
April 12 vs. Indiana - 2: Schaefbauer/Treiber, 3: Duong/Xu
April 19 at Penn State - 2: Schaefbauer/Treiber, 3: Frazier/Xu

CLINCHES

Jan. 14 vs. Missouri - Violeta Martinez (No. 4 singles)
Jan. 14 vs. EIU - Violeta Martinez (No. 2 singles)
Jan. 19 vs. Charlotte - Megan Heuser (No. 1 singles)
Jan. 28 vs. No. 23 UCF - Kasia Treiber (No. 3 singles)
Feb. 11 vs. Ole Miss - Kasia Treiber (No. 3 singles)
Feb. 17 vs. Brown - Josie Frazier (No. 5 singles)
Feb. 18 vs. Marshall - Kasia Treiber (No. 3 singles)
Feb. 23 vs. Tulsa - Josie Frazier (No. 5 singles)
March 15 vs. Maryland - Megan Heuser (No. 1 singles)
March 17 vs. Rutgers - Kasia Treiber (No. 4 singles)
March 24 at Nebraska - Josie Frazier (No. 3 singles)
March 30 vs. Northwestern - Alice Xu (No. 6 singles)
April 5 vs. Minnesota - Kasia Treiber (No. 4 singles)
April 12 vs. Indiana - Kasia Treiber (No. 4 singles)
April 14 vs. Purdue - Josie Frazier (No. 4 singles)
April 19 at Penn State - Kasia Treiber (No. 5 singles)

RANKING NOTES

Team (1-75)

• 2 – Michigan (23-3)
• 12 – Ohio State (17-6)
• 33 – Wisconsin (17-5)
• 34 – Northwestern (18-6)
• 38 – Illinois (16-8)
• 50 – Maryland (16-9)
• 65 – Iowa (11-11)
• 66 – Purdue (12-9)

Doubles (1-90)

• No. 8 - Brown/Miller (Michigan)
• No. 24 - Perry/Ratliff (Ohio State)
• No. 31 - Perry/Cantos Siemers (Ohio State)
• No. 42 - Conard/Can (Michigan State)
• No. 59 - Leong/Hand (Northwestern)
• No. 61 - Megan Heuser/Alice Xu
• No. 73 - Miranda/Budin (Maryland)
• No. 75 - Chavez/Cantos/Siemers (Ohio State)
• No. 82 - Sholokhova/Mukhortova (Wisconsin)
• No. 83 - Megan Heuser/Kate Duong
• No. 85 - Hayashida/Mehra (Iowa)

Singles (1-125)

• No. 3 - Kari Miller (Michigan)
• No. 18 - Irina Cantos Siemers (Ohio State)
• No. 27 - Julia Fliegner (Michigan)
• No. 53 - Luciana Perry (Ohio State)
• No. 58 - Gala Mesochoritou (Michigan)
• No. 77 - Selma Cadar (Maryland)
• No. 78 - Lily Jones (Michigan)
• No. 83 - Maria Sholokhova (Wisconsin)
• No. 109 - Ria Bhakta (Michigan State)
• No. 115 - Sydni Ratliff (Ohio State)
• No. 116 - Justine Leong (Northwestern)
• No. 124 - Piper Charney (Michigan)

NEXT UP

The NCAA women's tennis selection show is slated for Monday, April 29, at 5 p.m. CT. The show will air on NCAA.com.