The University of Illinois Fighting Illini Women’s Tennis team was narrowly defeated by No. 25 Baylor, 4-3, in a match held Saturday in Waco, Texas. Despite the loss, three Illinois players secured singles victories.
Senior McKenna Schaefbauer achieved her second win in as many days, upsetting Baylor’s No. 40-ranked Na Dong. “From there, all eyes turned to Schaefbauer who won the third-set superbreaker 10-7 to secure a 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-7) upset of No. 40 Na Dong. The triumph marked the highest-ranked win of Schaefbauer’s career and the eighth ranked victory overall. The senior is now 2-0 on the dual campaign and owns an 11-5 record on the season.”
Illinois is now 0-2 for the season after facing two ranked opponents during its opening weekend.
Baylor started strong by clinching the doubles point in their season opener. In No. 1 doubles, Baylor’s Na Dong and Zuzanna Kubacha defeated Illinois’ Tess Bucher and Alice Xu, while at No. 3 doubles Illinois’ Cara Mester and Ariel Madatali earned a win against Neda Rahimkhani and Gabrielle Villegas from Baylor.
Baylor extended its lead with wins at No. 3 and No. 5 singles before clinching the match at No. 2 singles.
Alice Xu put Illinois on the scoreboard with a straight-set victory at No. 6 singles: “Alice Xu got the Orange and Blue on the scoreboard with a dominant 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles where she would never trail. The victory marked her first of the dual season as the junior improved to 2-2 overall in 2025-26.”
Ariel Madatali followed with another win for Illinois: “Ariel Madatali secured her win next, earning a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 4 singles, where she would never trail. With the win, the sophomore earned her first dual victory of the season and improved to 8-5 on the season, marking her third straight win dating back to the fall.”
The University of Illinois Fighting Illini Women’s Tennis team is based in Champaign, Illinois and competes in NCAA Division I through the Big Ten Conference as part of University of Illinois athletics (official website).
Next weekend, Illinois will host Miami (OH) on January 24 at Atkins Tennis Center before facing Xavier on January 25.
Match details:
NO. 25 BAYLOR (1-0) defeated ILLINOIS (0-2), score: 4–3
Doubles:
1 – Na Dong/Zuzanna Kubacha (Baylor) def. Tess Bucher/Alice Xu – 6–2
2 – Kennedy Gibbs/Alian Zach (Baylor) def. McKenna Schaefbauer/Kimiko Cooper – 7–5
3 – Cara Mester/Ariel Madatali def. Neda Rahimkhani/Gabrielle Villegas (Baylor) – 6–3
Singles:
1 – McKenna Schaefbauer def. Na Dong (Baylor) – 6–2, 3–6, 1–0 (10–7)
2 – Zuzanna Kubacha (Baylor) def. Kimiko Cooper – 6–1, 6–2
3 – Kennedy Gibbs (Baylor) def. Tess Bucher – 6–4, 6–0
4 – Ariel Madatali def. Alian Zach (Baylor) – 6–3, 6–1
5 – Mu-Jie Tzeng (Baylor) def. Lizzie Isyanov – 6–2, 6–3
6 – Alice Xu def. Gabrielle Villegas (Baylor) – 6–4, 6–0
Order of finish: Doubles: 1, 3, 2; Singles: 3, 5, 2, 6, 4, 1.
Match duration was two hours and twenty-seven minutes with an attendance of one hundred fifty people.
