CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini women's tennis team will open the 2026 dual campaign with matches against No. 21 Pepperdine and at No. 25 Baylor from Waco, Texas. Illinois and Pepperdine are slated for action on Friday, Jan. 16 at 10 a.m. CT. The following day, the Orange and Blue will face Baylor at 3 p.m. Action will take place from Baylor's Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.
Friday's match marks the dual season opener for both Illinois and Pepperdine. Saturday's tilt will be the first of the campaign for Baylor.
Illinois is 0-2 all-time vs. Pepperdine with prior meetings occurring in 1993-94 and 1983-84. The Illini lead the all-time series 4-3 against Baylor. The most recent meeting took place during the 2024-25 season, a 4-1 win for the No. 22-ranked Bears.
During the fall, Illinois head coach Evan Clark welcomed new associate head coach Alexis Casati Raines back to Urbana-Champaign. The Illinois alum returned to Champaign after coaching stints at Western Michigan, SMU, and Georgia Tech since her graduation from Illinois in 2017.
RANKING NOTES
Team (1-75)
- No. 21 Pepperdine
- No. 25 Baylor
Doubles (1-90)
- No. 38 – Kennedy Gibbs/Na Dong – Baylor
- No. 60 – Alice Xu/Tess Bucher - Illinois
- No. 61 – Na Dong/Zuzanna Kubacha – Baylor
- No. 78 – Alexia Harmon/Anastasila Grechkina – Pepperdine
Singles (1-125)
- No. 7 – Anastasila Grechkina – Pepperdine
- No. 40 – Na Dong – Baylor
- No. 57 – Zuzanna Kubacha – Baylor
- No. 99 – Mu Jie Tzeng – Baylor
ILLINI NOTES
- During the preseason, Fighting Illini sophomore Ariel Madatali was named to the 2026 Big Ten Women's Tennis Players to Watch List. The St. Louis native is headed into her second dual season with the Orange and Blue. Madatali is one of 18 athletes named to the Players to Watch List.
- Illinois' 2026 slate features at least 11 matches against squads that appeared in the 2025 NCAA Team Tournament.
- From Feb. 6-10, the Illini will co-host the ITA National Indoor Team Championships with Northwestern. As an event host, Illinois is guaranteed three matches in the event and does not have to qualify through ITA Kickoff Weekend. Besides Illinois and Northwestern, the remaining 14 teams competing will qualify by winning two matches at their respective ITA Kickoff Weekend sites.
- Illinois added a pair of SEC transfers heading into this season. Tess Bucher (Kentucky) and Cara Mester (Oklahoma) both enter their sophomore seasons at Illinois.
- The incoming Fighting Illini class ranked No. 14 nationally by Tennis Recruiting Network. Risa Ueno (No. 14), Lizzie Isyanov (No. 37), and Kimiko Cooper (No. 18) make up the class. Evan Clark has now brought in four top-25 recruiting classes.
- Head coach Evan Clark is in his 11th year as the head coach of Illinois women's tennis, holds an overall dual record of 147-100 (.595), 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 178-111 record overall.
- Illinois has made the NCAA Tournament in three-straight seasons for the first time under Clark and third time in program history. The 2024-25 season's appearance marked the fifth with Clark at the helm.
- Across program history, Illinois has appeared in the NCAA Tournament 16 times and own a 5-16 all-time record.
- Illinois owns a 80-32 record when playing at home under Evan Clark (begins 2016 dual season).
NEXT UP
Next weekend, the Fighting Illini will host their first two matches in Atkins Tennis Center of the dual season. Miami (OH) is slated for an 11 a.m. CT contest on Saturday, Jan. 24, followed by a tilt with Xavier on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 12 p.m.
