Chambana Sun

Illinois is preparing to conclude its non-conference tennis matches with a home game against Washington on Friday. The match will be the second in a tripleheader at Atkins Tennis Center, starting at 2 p.m. CT. This meeting marks an end to Illinois' non-conference games as they currently hold an 8-4 record, with Big Ten play approaching in two weeks.

Recently, Illinois secured a 4-0 victory over Tulsa at the Blue Gray Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Alabama. However, the team faced defeats against Alabama and Wake Forest during the same event. Josie Frazier notably achieved a straight-set win over Myroslava Zelenchuk from Tulsa and secured Illinois' sole point against Alabama by defeating Anna Parkhomenko.

Historically, Illinois has struggled against Washington with a 1-9 record overall and a 1-2 record under head coach Evan Clark. Currently ranked No. 24, this is their best ranking since 2019 after receiving votes in recent top-25 polls. Kasia Treiber was named Big Ten Women's Tennis Player of the Week on February 21 for her performances against Brown and Marshall.

Illinois boasts an undefeated record of 5-0 when playing at Atkins Tennis Center this season. Coach Evan Clark is in his ninth year leading Illinois women's tennis, holding an overall dual record of 122-79 (.607) and a Big Ten play record of 58-28 (.674). Last season, Illinois had an 18-10 overall record with eight wins in Big Ten play.

The Illini return six players from last season's roster, including senior players Josie Frazier and Kate Duong. Other returning players are juniors Megan Heuser, Kasia Treiber, Kida Ferrari, and sophomore Violeta Martinez. New additions include McKenna Schaefbauer from South Carolina along with freshmen Rosie Seccia and Alice Xu.

Washington enters the match ranked No. 29 with a current record of 9-3 while Illinois holds rank No. 44.

Following this matchup, Illinois will take a break before hosting Maryland and Rutgers on March 15 and March 17 respectively.