CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini women's tennis team is set for its home-opening weekend Jan. 24-25 as Miami (Ohio) and Xavier visit Atkins Tennis Center. Action vs. the RedHawks is slated for 11 a.m. CT on Saturday, while first serve against the Musketeers will go up at 12 p.m.
Miami (Ohio) is 0-2 on the young season and will play at Kentucky on Friday before heading north to Champaign-Urbana. Xavier spent opening weekend at the Michigan Invite and will play its first dual of the spring on Saturday at Purdue before facing Illinois on Sunday.
The Fighting Illini are 0-2 on the 2026 dual season after falling to a pair of ranked teams in Waco, Texas, last weekend.
Illinois is 4-10 all-time vs. Miami (Ohio), with the most recent meeting occurring in 2009, a 5-2 victory for the Orange and Blue. The Illini lead the all-time series against Xavier, 1-0. The lone previous result occurred during the 2022-23 season, a 7-0 win by forfeit for the Illini.
During opening weekend, Fighting Illini senior McKenna Schaefbauer went 2-0 with the highest-ranked win of her career after upsetting No. 40 Na Dong of Baylor. Ariel Madatali and Alice Xu each picked up wins on the singles courts as well. Madatali teamed up with Cara Mester on the doubles court to earn a 6-3 win.
RANKING NOTES
Team (1-75)
Doubles (1-90)
Singles (1-125)
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.
- The Fighting Illini faced two ranked opponents during opening weekend and are slated to face at least six teams for the Jan. 7 team top-25 rankings.
- 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 147-102 (.590), 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 178-113 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 hit the road again, making a pair of stops on their road trip. Illinois will open the stretch at Memphis on Friday, Jan. 30, at 5 p.m. CT before heading to Ole Miss for a Sunday, Feb. 1, contest at 12 p.m.
