[8] Illinois Set to Face [9] Nebraska in Big Ten Tournament

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini Women’s Tennis opens up postseason play on Thursday morning, facing Nebraska in the First Round of the Big Ten Women’s Tennis Tournament presented by Allstate. The eighth-seeded Illini take on the ninth-seeded Cornhuskers at 8 a.m. CT.

No. 55-ranked Illinois finished off the regular season with a 7-6 mark in conference play and a 12-12 record overall, nine of its 12 losses coming to top-25 ranked teams. The Illini finished the season strong, taking their last three matches of the year against Bradley, Rutgers and No. 45 Maryland.

Senior McKenna Schaefbauer enters the postseason ranked No. 58 by ITA after a 14-6 campaign in dual play and 9-4 marks versus Big Ten opponents after taking down Maryland’s No. 101 Oliwia Orlinska in three sets. Alice Xu and Tess Bucher conclude the regular season ranked 67th in doubles.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers, ranked 47th by ITA, closed the season with a 7-6 record in the Big Ten and 15-8 overall. Nebraska is a familiar foe for Illinois, as the Illini took the Huskers down in 4-0 fashion earlier this season on March 6 in the Big Ten opener.

If the Orange and Blue are victorious on Thursday morning, they will advance to face top-seeded Ohio State at 8 a.m. on Friday.

RANKING NOTES

• Illinois
  

  • Team Ranking – 55
  • Singles Rankings
    
  • Doubles Rankings
    

• Nebraska

  • Team Ranking — 47
  • Singles Rankings – N/A
  • Doubles Rankings 

    • No. 40 – Katie Spencer/Conley Raidt

DOUBLES POINTS

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
5. March 21 vs. Purdue – #2 Bucher/Xu and #3 Cooper/Madatali
6. March 27 at Oregon – #2 Mester/Xu and #3 Cooper/Madatali
7. April 12 vs. USC – #1 Bucher/Xu and #3 Isyanov/Mester
8. April 14 vs. Bradley – #1 Bucher/Xu and #2 Madatali/Schaefbauer
9. April 19 at Maryland – #1 Bucher/Xu and #3 Isyanov/Mester

CLINCHES

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
6. March 14 vs. Northwestern – #3 Ariel Madatali – 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
7. March 21 vs. Purdue – #5 Alice Xu – 3-6, 6-0, 6-2
8. March 22 vs. Indiana – #5 Alice Xu – 6-2, 7-5
9. March 27 at Oregon – #2 Kimiko Cooper – 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
10. April 14 vs. Bradley – #1 Kimiko Cooper – 6-2, 6-2
11. April 17 at Rutgers – #4 Tess Bucher – 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
12. April 19 at Maryland – #1 McKenna Schaefbauer, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3

ILLINI NOTES

• Ranked No. 65 in their first poll back, Tess Bucher and Alice Xu have returned to the doubles rankings after taking down USC’s No. 24-ranked pair of Lily Fairclough and Krisha Mahendran on April 12. Bucher and Xu were ranked for the first nine weeks of dual play as well as the last two polls.
• 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.
• Schaefbauer climbed again in the March 17 ITA singles rankings, reaching a new career-best at No. 29. 
• 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). Illinois faced its sixth top-25 team at No. 20 Washington on March 29 and seventh top-25 foes vs. No. 17 Michigan on April 4.
• 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 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 159-112 (.587), and is 81-42 (.659) in Big Ten play during his time as an Illini. Including his time as the head coach at UNC-Wilmington, Clark owns a 190-123 (.607) 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 87-40 (.685) record when playing at home under Evan Clark (begins 2016 dual season).

RECORDS