Chambana Sun

The Atkins Tennis Center in Champaign, Illinois, is set to host the ITA Women's Indoor National Championship this weekend. The event will feature some of the top collegiate tennis teams in the nation, with Illinois guaranteed to play three matches.

The No. 8-seeded Fighting Illini will begin their campaign against Texas A&M, the reigning outdoor national champion and No. 1 seed, on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT. Matches are scheduled throughout Friday and Saturday at various times, while Sunday will see three consolation matches.

Teams that win both of their initial matches will advance directly to Northwestern for the semifinals and championship matches.

Friday's schedule includes LSU facing Michigan at 9 a.m., Oklahoma versus UCLA at noon, Texas against Oklahoma State at 3:30 p.m., and Illinois taking on Texas A&M in the evening.

Head coach Evan Clark leads Illinois into this competition with a record of success during his tenure. He has achieved an overall dual record of 133-87 (.605) and a Big Ten record of 67-31 (.684). Under his guidance since 2016, Illinois has maintained a strong home performance with a record of 74-25.

Illinois recently secured an out-of-conference victory over Northwestern on January 25th, marking their fifth consecutive win against them. The teams are scheduled to meet again for a Big Ten match in April.

Key players include Ariel Madatali and Megan Heuser who have each registered significant wins this season. Junior McKenna Schaefbauer was named to the Big Ten Women's Tennis Players to Watch List following her successful sophomore year.

The Illini concluded last season with a record of 17-10 overall and an 8-3 mark in Big Ten play. They have made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament under Coach Clark's leadership.