Chambana Sun

The Illinois women's tennis team, ranked No. 38, is set to begin their postseason journey in the Big Ten Tournament hosted by Michigan. The Fighting Illini will compete on Thursday morning against either Rutgers or Michigan State at the Varsity Tennis Center.

Rutgers holds an 11-11 overall record with a 2-9 mark in conference play and has not yet played a neutral match this season. Meanwhile, Michigan State comes into the tournament with a 10-15 overall record and a 1-10 standing in Big Ten matches, having split their two neutral matches this season.

Illinois has had a strong season with a 16-8 overall record and an 8-3 performance in Big Ten play. In their last regular-season weekend, Illinois secured a victory over Penn State before falling to Ohio State. Against Penn State, McKenna Schaefbauer, Josie Frazier, and Kasia Treiber achieved singles victories. At Ohio State, Alice Xu and Kasia Treiber managed to win their singles matches despite the team's loss.

Historically, Illinois has dominated Rutgers with a perfect 9-0 record under head coach Evan Clark. They also lead the series against Michigan State with a record of 38-13 and are currently 7-1 against them under Clark's leadership.

Several players have received accolades for their performances this season. Megan Heuser was named as a Big Ten All-Conference athlete for the first time in her career while Alice Xu earned recognition for sportsmanship from the league office.

Coach Evan Clark is leading his ninth year at Illinois with an impressive track record both overall and within the conference. The team returns several key players from last season including seniors Josie Frazier and Kate Duong along with juniors Megan Heuser, Kasia Treiber, Kida Ferrari, sophomore Violeta Martinez, transfer McKenna Schaefbauer from South Carolina, and freshmen Rosie Seccia and Alice Xu.

Looking ahead, the NCAA women's tennis selection show is scheduled for Monday, April 29 at 5 p.m., which will be available on NCAA.com.