Chambana Sun

The Fighting Illini women's tennis team is set to begin their 2025 dual season with a match against Notre Dame on Saturday, January 18. The event will take place at the Eck Tennis Pavilion at 10 a.m. CT, and entry is free for spectators.

Notre Dame will start their dual season on Friday evening with Ball State as visitors, followed by a doubleheader on Saturday against Illinois and Depaul.

This Saturday's encounter marks the 40th meeting between Illinois and Notre Dame. Historically, the Fighting Illini have a record of 9-30 against the Fighting Irish and are 1-3 under head coach Evan Clark. Their last matchup was on February 5, 2023, resulting in a narrow victory for Notre Dame with a score of 4-3.

In terms of rankings, neither team is currently in the top 25. In singles play, Akari Matsuno from Notre Dame holds the No. 67 position, while McKenna Schaefbauer and Violeta Martinez from Illinois are ranked No. 109 and No. 111 respectively.

Evan Clark is entering his tenth year as head coach of Illinois women's tennis. He has an overall dual record of 131-85 (.606) and a Big Ten play record of 66-31 (.680). Including his tenure at UNC-Wilmington, he has an overall coaching record of 162-96.

The Illini concluded their previous season with a record of 17-10 overall and an impressive Big Ten tally of 8-3 in the year spanning from 2023 to 2024. The team's performance secured them their third-highest win count under Coach Clark's leadership and matched for tenth-most victories in program history. This achievement led to Illinois earning its fifteenth appearance at the NCAA Team Tournament.

Illinois has now qualified for consecutive NCAA Tournaments twice under Coach Clark’s guidance—a feat accomplished seven times in total within the program’s history—and last year's participation marked Clark’s fourth appearance as head coach.

During preseason selections, junior McKenna Schaefbauer was highlighted on the Big Ten Women's Tennis Players to Watch List after achieving a successful sophomore year with records showing seventeen wins in singles matches along with eighteen wins across doubles courts during her time appearing at all six singles slots alongside every doubles court setup for Illinois throughout that period.

Following this initial away game against Notre Dame over upcoming weeks until early February: Northwestern visits Champaign (January twenty-fifth), then Georgia Tech arrives later that month followed closely by Colorado arriving early next month just before they host prestigious ITA National Indoor Championships running from February seventh through ninth back home within university facilities themselves!