Illinois senior McKenna Schaefbauer clinched No. 58 Illinois’ 4-1 victory over No. 45 Maryland on April 19, closing the regular season for the University of Illinois Fighting Illini Women’s Tennis team. The match was played indoors at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland.
The result brings Illinois to a balanced overall record of 12-12 and marks their third consecutive win, finishing Big Ten Conference play at 7-6. Maryland now stands at 16-6 for the year and is 8-5 in conference competition. Under head coach Evan Clark, Illinois has won all ten meetings against Maryland since he took charge.
Doubles play saw Illinois claim the point after wins on courts one and three. Tess Bucher and Alice Xu secured a decisive victory over Maryland’s top pair with a score of 6-0, while Cara Mester and Lizzie Isyanov earned a straight-forward win on court three, finishing doubles action with their fifth win as partners this season.
In singles matches, Bucher added to Illinois’ lead by winning her contest at No. 5 singles in three sets. Mester extended the advantage further with a comeback victory at No. 6 singles after trailing early in both sets but ultimately prevailing in straight sets (7-5, 7-5). Schaefbauer then clinched the overall team win by defeating Maryland’s top-ranked player in three sets (6-3, 2-6, 6-3), marking her fourth ranked singles win this season.
The University of Illinois Fighting Illini Women’s Tennis participates in NCAA Division I competition according to the official website. The program is based in Champaign, Illinois and competes within the Big Ten Conference as part of University of Illinois athletics according to its official website.
With regular season play complete, attention now turns to postseason competition as Ohio State will host the Big Ten Tournament from April 23–26 at Ty Tucker Tennis Center.
