Chambana Sun

For the fourth time under head coach Evan Clark, the Illinois women's tennis program has secured a top-25 ranked recruiting class. This year, the Illini's recruits are ranked No. 16 nationally and No. 3 within the Big Ten Conference.

"We are excited to be recognized for our 2025 recruiting class but we are more excited about the student-athletes we will be adding to our program," said Clark. "Elizabeth and Risa are terrific people and terrific tennis players and they will be incredible additions to our program."

The class includes two notable players: Risa Ueno, who is ranked No. 14 by Tennis Recruiting Network, and Elizabeth Isyanov, a five-star recruit ranked No. 38 by TRN.

Clark expressed gratitude towards his assistant coach for contributing significantly to this achievement: "I'd also like to thank Coach Eddins for all his tireless work on the recruiting trail."

In the NCAA rankings, only UCLA (No. 3) and USC (No. 5) were ahead of Illinois among Big Ten teams. Other conference members in the top-25 included Wisconsin at No. 21, Michigan at No. 22, and Indiana at No. 23.

Since joining Illinois in 2017, Clark's highest-ranked recruiting class was initially No. 15 that same year. Subsequent classes were ranked No. 22 in 2019, No. 24 in 2021, leading up to this year's placement at No. 16.

Clark has maintained a record of no student-athlete transfers from his program during their four-year tenure and achieved a perfect graduation rate among his players.