Illini Continue Homestand with Iowa State, #22 Baylor

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini have a packed weekend ahead, hosting home matches against Iowa State (4-1) on Friday at 4 p.m. CT and No. 22 Baylor (6-1) on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT. Illinois currently holds a 2-5 record this season, including a 2-4 mark at home following the 2025 ITA Team Indoor Championships held at Atkins Tennis Center.

Illinois and Iowa State will meet for the seventh time in program history on Friday. The Illini lead the series 6-0 all-time with the most recent meeting coming during the 1991 dual campaign. Illinois leads the all-time series against Baylor, 4-2, which includes a 1-2 record under Evan Clark.

Saturday's match vs. Baylor will mark Illinois' fourth contest of the season against a top 25 team.

Ranking Notes

Team –

• No. 22 – Baylor

Doubles –

• No. 14 – Liubov Kostenko/Cristina Tiglea (Baylor)
• No. 61 – Megan Heuser/Kida Ferrari (Illinois)
• No. 89 – Megan Heuser/Alice Xu (Illinois)

Singles –

• No. 70 – Anna Supapitch Kuearum (Iowa State) 
• No. 85 – Na Dong (Baylor)
• No. 117 – Zuzanna Kubacha (Baylor)

DOUBLES POINTS

Jan. 18 at Notre Dame – 2: Schaefbauer/Treiber, 3: Xu/Madatali
Jan. 25 vs. Northwestern – 1: Ferrari/Heuser, 3: Martinez/Xu
Feb. 2 vs. Colorado – 1: Heuser/Ferrari, 2: Schaefbauer/Treiber

CLINCHES

Jan. 25 vs. Northwestern – No. 4 singles, Ariel Madatali (2-6, 6-2, 6-2)
Feb. 2 vs. Colorado – No. 2 singles, Megan Heuser (6-7(7), 6-1, 6-3)

ILLINI NOTES

• Head coach Evan Clark is in his 10th year as the head coach of Illinois women's tennis, holds an overall dual record of 134-92 (.596), and is 66-31 (.684) in Big Ten play during his time as an Illini. Including his time as the head coach at UNC-Wilmington, Clark owns a 165-103 record overall.
• Illinois owns a 74-28 record when playing at home under Evan Clark (begins 2016 dual season).
• While hosting the 2025 ITA Team Indoor Championships, Illinois faced the nation's best, competing against No. 2 Texas A&M, No. 3 Oklahoma State, and No. 6 UCLA.
• After the Jan. 25, 2025, out-of-conference victory over Northwestern, Illinois has now won five consecutive matches over the Wildcats. The squads will meet again for a Big Ten match on April 12 in Evanston.
• Violeta Martinez earned ranked wins on both the doubles and singles courts in Illinois' loss to No. 6 UCLA. On the doubles courts, Martinez and Alice Xu teamed up to take down UCLA's No. 30 ranked duo. Martinez would get the Fighting Illini on the board with a straight-set upset (6-4, 6-4) of UCLA's No. 53 Elisa Wagle.
• Ariel Madatali's first-career clinch was also the first dual win of her career, which came in Illinois' 4-2 win over Northwestern.
• Megan Heuser registered her first clinch of the season against Colorado on Feb. 2 with her three-set win at No. 2 singles.
• During the preseason, junior McKenna Schaefbauer was selected to the Big Ten Women's Tennis Players to Watch List. Schaefbauer is coming off of a successful sophomore campaign that featured a 17-10 overall singles record and 18-16 overall on the doubles courts. The transfer appeared at all six singles slots and all three doubles courts for the Illini in 2024.
• The Illini are coming off a 17-10 season with an 8-3 Big Ten record in 2023-24. The Illini's 17 wins were the third-most under Coach Clark and tied for the 10th-most in a season in program history. Three of those top-10 marks have come under Clark. UI earned its 15th appearance to the NCAA Team Tournament in program history.
• Illinois has made the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons for the second time under Clark and seventh time in program history. Last season's appearance marked the fourth with Clark at the helm.