Women's Tennis Set to Host Northwestern on Saturday

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini women's tennis prepares to host Northwestern at Atkins Tennis Center Saturday, March 14, at 1 p.m. CT.

Illinois holds a deceptive 5-7 record on the 2026 campaign, with five losses coming to top-25 ranked opposition. The Illini claimed back-to-back sweeps over Kansas City and Nebraska before falling, 4-3, at No. 45 Iowa most recently.

Northwestern is off to an 8-5 start on the year and is 4-2 when playing on the road this season. The Wildcats are 1-1 in conference play after falling to Iowa and defeating Nebraska.

Following the weekend tilt, Illinois is slated to host Purdue and Indiana on Saturday, March 21, and Sunday, March 22, respectively. Both matches will begin at 12 p.m.

• Illinois
  • Team Ranking – N/A
  • Singles Rankings
    • No. 34 - McKenna Schaefbauer
  • Doubles Rankings
    • No. 86 - Alice Xu/Tess Bucher
• Northwestern
  • Team Ranking – N/A
  • Singles Rankings
    • No. 69 - Margot Phanthala
  • Doubles Rankings
    • No. 77 - Mika Dagan Fruchtman/Neena Feldman
    • No. 87 - Margot Phanthala/Erica Jessel

1. Jan. 24 vs. Miami (OH) - #2 Schaefbauer/Cooper and #3 Mester/Madatali
2. Feb. 2 vs. DePaul - #2 Schaefbauer/Cooper and #3 Mester/Madatali
3. March 2 vs. Kansas City - #1 Bucher/Xu and #2 Madatali/Schaefbauer
4. March 6 at Nebraska - #1 Bucher/Xu and #2 Madatali/Mester

1. Jan. 24 vs. Miami (OH) - #1 McKenna Schaefbauer - 6-3, 6-4
2. Feb. 2 vs. DePaul - #3 Ariel Madatali - 6-1, 3-6, 6-2
3. Feb. 13 at Iowa State - #5 Lizzie Isyanov - 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. March 2 vs. Kansas City - #1 McKenna Schaefbauer - 6-3, 6-1
5. March 6 at Nebraska - #1 McKenna Schaefbauer - 4-6, 6-3, 7-5

• For the first time of her career, Fighting Illini senior McKenna Schaefbauer was named the Big Ten Women's Tennis Player of the Week, the league office announced follow Illinois' opening weekend of play. The Normal, Illinois, native produced a 2-0 opening weekend that saw her earn the highest-ranked win of her career with a victory over the No. 40-ranked player in the country.
• McKenna Schaefbauer picked up her second ranked singles win of the season on Feb. 20 when Illinois hosted Wisconsin. The Illini senior earned a straight-set upset of No. 14 Maria Sholokhova at No. 1 singles.
• In the March 3 ITA singles rankings, McKenna Schaefbauer earned a No. 34 reading - the highest of her career.
• 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 top-25 ranked opponents during opening weekend (No. 21 Pepperdine, No. 25 Baylor) and followed that up with three more ranked matches while hosting the ITA Team Indoor National Championship (No. 3 North Carolina, No. 7 Duke, No. 12 Vanderbilt).
• From Feb. 6-10, the Illini co-hosted the ITA National Indoor Team Championships with Northwestern. As an event host, Illinois was guaranteed three matches in the event and does not have to qualify through ITA Kickoff Weekend. Besides Illinois and Northwestern, the remaining 14 teams qualified 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 Fighting Illini freshman 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 2025-26 newcomers.
• In the 2026 Tennis Recruiting Network class rankings, Illinois ranked No. 20 overall and third in the Big Ten. Evan Clark has now had back-to-back ranked classes for the first time in his career and Evan Clark has now brought in five top-25 recruiting classes overall.
• Head coach Evan Clark is in his 11th year as the head coach of Illinois women's tennis, holds an overall dual record of 152-107 (.587), and is 75-37 (.670) in Big Ten play during his time as an Illini. Including his time as the head coach at UNC-Wilmington, Clark owns a 183-118 (.608) 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 owns a 5-16 all-time record.
• Illinois owns an 83-36 (.697) record when playing at home under Evan Clark (begins 2016 dual season).

RECORDS