Big Ten Tournament Up Next for Fighting Illini

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 42-ranked Illinois women's tennis team opens the 2025 postseason on Thursday evening in the Big Ten Tournament hosted in Ojai, Calif. Action will take place from Libbey Park.

Illinois enters the weekend with a 13-11 record on the season and went 8-5 mark in Big Ten action. The Fighting Illini have have their last three matches - all on the road - and have claimed the last six decisions against Northwestern. 

First round action against the No. 10-seeded Wildcats is slated for 5 p.m. CT on Wednesday. The winner of Wednesday's match earns a quarterfinals appearance against No. 2 seed Ohio State on Thursday at 5 p.m. CT.

Northwestern enters the opening round with a 13-12 overall record after going 6-7 in Big Ten play to earn the No. 10 seed.

The Fighting Illini hold a 14-55 all-time record vs. the Wildcats, winning the last six meetings.

Illinois has finished with eight or more Big Ten victories in each of the last five seasons since COVID-19 ended the 2020 campaign. The Orange and Blue have won at least seven league matches in all nine completed seasons under head coach Evan Clark.

Only the league's top 12 finishers make the Big Ten Tournament in the latest format. Every match of the Big Ten Tournament can be streamed on B1G+.

More information about the 2025 Big Ten Tournament can be found HERE.

Ranking Notes

Team (1-75)

• [1] No. 3 - Michigan (21-3)
• [2] No. 9 - Ohio State (18-3)
• [4] No. 16 - UCLA (15-7)
• [6] No. 17 - USC (15-6)
• [3] No. 18 - Washington (19-3)
• [5] No. 23 - Wisconsin (17-4)
• [9] No. 33 - Iowa (13-9)
• [7] No. 42 - Illinois (13-11)
• [10] No. 50 - Northwestern (13-12)
• [12] No. 52 - Penn State (14-9)
• [8] No. 60 - Maryland (14-11)
• [11] No. 65 - Michigan State (13-11)

Doubles (1-90)

• No. 9 - Olivia Center/Kate Fakih (UCLA)
• No. 11 - Lily Fairclough/Grace Piper (USC)
• No. 15 - Kimmi Hance/Elise Wagle (UCLA)
• No. 19 - Luciana Perry/Teah Chavez (Ohio State)
• No. 20 - Jessica Bernales/Lily Jones (Michigan)
• No. 34 - Piper Charney/Jessica Bernales (Michigan)
• No. 37 - Maria Sholokhova/Alina Mukhortova (Wisconsin)
• No. 40 - Danielle Hack/Kallista Liu (Maryland)
• No. 48 - Maria Sholokhova/Ariel Johnson (Wisconsin)
• No. 57 - Reece Carter/Alexia Jacobs (Washington)
• No. 65 - Nikita Vishwase/Tereza Dejnozkova (Iowa)
• No. 85 - Kida Ferrari/Megan Heuser (Illinois)
• No. 90 - Britany Lau/Mika Dagan Fruchtman (Northwestern)

Singles (1-125)

• No. 5 - Julia Fliegner (Michigan)
• No. 9 - Maria Sholokhova (Wisconsin)
• No. 10 - Luciana Perry (Ohio State)
• No. 25 - Piper Charney (Michigan)
• No. 30 - Teah Chavez (Ohio State)
• No. 33 - Kate Fakih (UCLA)
• No. 34 - Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer (UCLA)
• No. 41 - Lily Jones (Michigan)
• No. 45 - Grace Piper (USC)
• No. 64 - Emma Charney (USC)
• No. 66 - Elise Wagle (UCLA)
• No. 82 - Emily Sartz-Lunde (Michigan)
• No. 84 - Kimmi Hance (UCLA) 
• No. 94 - Sydni Ratliff (Ohio State)
• No. 98 - Imogen Haddad (USC)
• No. 99 - Audrey Spencer (Ohio State)
• No. 107- Sydney Pratt (Northwestern)
• No. 110 - Daianne Hayashida (Iowa)
• No. 113 - Reece Carter (Washington)

DOUBLES POINTS

Jan. 18 at Notre Dame – 2: Schaefbauer/Treiber, 3: Xu/Madatali
Jan. 25 vs. Northwestern – 1: Heuser/Ferrari, 3: Martinez/Xu
Feb. 2 vs. Colorado – 1: Heuser/Ferrari, 2: Schaefbauer/Treiber
Feb. 14 vs. Iowa State – 2: Martinez/Xu, 3: Schaefbauer/Treiber
March 1 vs. Western Michigan – 1: Heuser/Ferrari, 2: Martinez/Xu
March 1 vs. Chicago State – 2: Schaefbauer/Treiber, 3: Madatali/Seccia
March 7 at Minnesota – 1: Heuser/Ferrari, 3: Schaefbauer/Treiber
March 14 vs. Iowa – 2: Martinez/Xu, 3: Schaefbauer/Treiber
March 16 vs. Nebraska – 1: Ferrari/Heuser, 2: Martinez/Xu
March 24 vs. Washington - 2: Martinez/Xu, 3: Schaefbauer/Treiber
March 30 at Michigan State - 1: Martinez/Xu, 2: Schaefbauer/Treiber
April 5 vs. Penn State - 2: Martinez/Xu, 3: Schaefbauer/Treiber
April 6 vs. Ohio State - 1: Heuser/Ferrari, 2: Martinez/Xu
April 12 at Northwestern - 1: Heuser/Ferrari, 3: Schaefbauer/Treiber
April 18 at Indiana - 2: Martinez/Xu, 3: Schaefbauer/Treiber
April 20 at Purdue - 2: Martinez/Xu, 3: 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)
Feb. 14 vs. Iowa State – No. 1 singles, McKenna Schaefbauer (6-2, 6-2)
March 2 vs. Western Michigan – No. 3 singles, Violeta Martinez (7-5, 6-7(2), 1-0 (10-3)
March 2 vs. Chicago State – No. 4 singles, Ariel Madatali (6-0, 6-0)
March 7 at Minnesota – No. 2 singles, Megan Heuser (6-4, 6-1)
March 16 vs. Nebraska – No. 2 singles, Megan Heuser (6-4, 6-4)
March 22 vs. Oregon - No. 5 singles, Kida Ferrari (6-3, 7-5)
March 30 at Michigan State - No. 2 singles, Megan Heuser (6-3, 2-6, 6-4)
April 5 vs. Penn State - No. 5 singles, Ariel Madatali (6-2, 6-1)
April 12 at Northwestern - No. 6 singles, Kasia Treiber (7-6(0), 6-4)
April 18 at Indiana - No. 5 singles, Kasia Treiber (6-3, 2-6, 6-3)
April 20 at Purdue - No. 1 singles, McKenna Schaefbauer (6-3, 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 145-98 (.597), and is 74-36 (.673) in Big Ten play during his time as an Illini. Including his time as the head coach at UNC-Wilmington, Clark owns a 176-109 record overall.
• Evan Clark is now the program's all-time winningest head coach at 145 victories in the midst of his 10th season at the helm. He passed Jennifer Roberts, who coached at Illinois for 11 seasons from 1988-98 (138 wins).
• Clark also owns 74 wins in Big Ten play, surpassing Roberts' Illinois record at 68.
• Illinois owns a 80-32 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. The following weekend, Illinois welcomed No. 22 Baylor to the Atkins Tennis Center, visited No. 17 Wisconsin, hosted No. 20 Washington, visited No. 3 Michigan, and most recently hosted No. 11 Ohio State for its eighth Top-25 match of the season.
• After winning both the Jan. 25, 2025 out-of-conference victory over Northwestern and the in-league dual in Evanston on April 12, Illinois has now won six consecutive matches over the Wildcats. 
• Fighting Illini freshman Ariel Madatali leads the team with 17 wins on the singles courts.
• Illinois' top doubles duo of Megan Heuser and Kida Ferrari earned a 6-4 upset win over Ohio State's No. 10-ranked tandem on April 6. The following week, the Illini senior pair was ranked No. 81 in the ITA doubles rankings. The following weekend, the Illini duo downed Northwestern's No. 72-ranked team.
• 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.
• McKenna Schaefbauer earned her first clinch of the season in Illinois' 4-0 sweep of Iowa State, taking down No. 70 Anna Kuearum, 6-2, 6-2.
• 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 owns a team-best four clinches this season.
• 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.