After nearly identical seasons that both failed to live up to their ceilings, Illinois has had an impressive offseason. Academic awards, All-American honors and Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) nominations have been the highlights of the summer.
Identical seasons
The Illinois men and women finished the season with 15-12 and 15-13 records respectively. The seasons had contrasting halves. The Illinois men’s team went 8-5 through the first half and ended the season with an underwhelming 7-7 record,whereas the women’s team were 6-8 in their initial games but bounced back to end the season 9-5.
Both teams fell to Ohio State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament. And while the women’s team made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament, the men’s team fell in the first round to Oklahoma.
A season filled with highs and lows was rewarded with several notable awards.
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Women’s Tennis
All-Big Ten honors
The awards season began in April as four Illini earned All-Big Ten honors. Senior Megan Heuser and junior Mckenna Schaefbauer were named to the Second All-Big Ten team. Heuser completed the season with a 7-3 singles record in Big Ten play and led the team with five ranked wins.. Schaefbauer bossed the team with a 10-2 doubles record in conference play.
Freshman Ariel Madatali earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team for a striking debut season. She finished the season with a 10-5 record in singles, recording the best win percentage of the team. Madatali is the first ever Illini to be named to the All-Freshman Team.
Lastly, senior Kasia Treiber was accredited as a Sportsmanship Award honoree for the second time in her collegiate career. With a 10-9 singles record and a 17-9 doubles record, Treiber took care of both courts.
CSC Academic honors
Illinois’ offseason glory opened up with four players earning CSC Academic All-District honors on May 13. The nominees of this award need to maintain a minimum GPA of 3.50, be a sophomore and participate in at least 70 percent of the matches the team plays.
Senior Kida Ferrari earned her third consecutive Academic award as she completed a bachelor’s degree in strategic business development and entrepreneurship.
Majoring in interdisciplinary health sciences and political science respectively, Heuser and Schaefbauer both earned the second such honors of their collegiate careers.
Treiber rounded out the awards season with her first academic honor while pursuing an accountancy degree. Treiber, alongside the others, joined forces to take Illinois to a 15-13 record, setting the program up for more success in the future.
Top-15 incoming class
Illinois, under head coach Evan Clark, has had a strong recruiting season this year. This resulted in Illinois’s recruiting class jumping in the Tennis Recruiting Network’s (TRN) rankings from No. 16 in February to No. 14 in June. This is now the best-ranked recruiting class under coach Clark.
This recruiting class makes Illinois the fourth-best ranked class in the Big Ten, just behind USC, UCLA and Indiana. The Illini will have the services of Risa Ueno from Hiroshima, Japan. Ueno is ranked No. 14 by the TRN.
Illinois has also signed five-star recruit Elizabeth Isyanov from Elmhurst, IL who adds more firepower to the recruiting class. Ranked No. 3 in Illinois, she has an overall record of 13-5.
“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, talking to Fighting Illini Athletics. “These rankings are only possible because of their hard work and accomplishments so we appreciate making these headlines possible. We can’t wait to get them on campus next fall.”
Men’s Tennis
It’s Miyoshi’s world, we’re living in it
Illinois men’s 2024-25 season was spearheaded by junior Kenta Miyoshi, who put together a clinical campaign to be named the Big Ten Player of the Year. With a 17-4 singles record in duals and a dominant 8-2 singles record in conference play, it was one of the most assertive seasons in program history. Seven out of his eight Big Ten singles victories were straight set victories as he put up the second most wins at no. 1 singles in the conference. Miyoshi also earned a unanimous All-Big Ten First team selection.
Miyoshi earned a second consecutive CSC Academic All-district honor while pursuing a degree in strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship. He also earned a spot on the CSC Academic All-America First Team, becoming one of only two Big Ten students to earn this honor.
He continued his statement season to qualify for the ATP Next Gen Accelerator Program. Qualified players get the chance to accelerate their careers by getting an opportunity to play in the ATP Challenger Tour. Miyoshi is one of the 22 players to qualify for the program, also marking his first ever qualification. He is also only one of four Big Ten players who qualified for this program.
The ITA awards this offseason rewarded Miyoshi’s dominant junior season. He was named the ITA Midwest Regional Player to watch, and was later named the ITA National Player to watch. Miyoshi becomes only the second Illini to earn this award and it caps off a historic season for the Japan native. He is one of the most exciting players in collegiate tennis for the upcoming season and will be the key for Illinois’ success.
Big Ten honors
Another All-Big Ten selection was the dependable redshirt junior William Mroz. Earning a spot on the All-Big Ten second team, Mroz had an impressive season. He went 9-6 in singles in duals but aced conference play with a stellar 5-1 record. Mroz’s season was cut short with injuries, but he will be a key player in his final season at Illinois.
Redshirt sophomore Tyler Bowers earned his first Big Ten Sportsmanship award, finishing the season with an overall 16-12 singles record. Still growing his game, Bowers shuffled between No. 2, 3 and 4 singles positions this season. Playing with several different teammates, Bowers also helped put up a competitive 5-4 doubles record in conference play. Going into his junior year, Bowers will want to be a more consistent mainstay, helping boost the program forward.
CSC Academic honors
Similar to the women’s team, in addition to Miyoshi, three other Illini earned CSC Academic All-District honors.
Senior Mathis Debru, sophomore Jeremy Zhang and redshirt freshman Zach Viiala each earned their first CSC Academic honors. Debru completed a degree in agricultural and consumer economics in his final year at Illinois while going 17-11 in singles play. He rounds off a memorable stint at Illinois with his second best singles season and earning an academic honor.
Zhang is pursuing a degree in Finance and, while he struggled on the court this season, he continues to be a vital member in the Illinois dressing room. Viiala, currently undeclared, put on a resilient show this season with a 18-13 overall singles record.
Coach of the year
To finish the awards season, head coach Brad Dancer was named the ITA Midwest Region Coach of the Year for the third time in his career. Dancer has been with Illinois since 2006 and has made Illinois a consistent force. He signed a contract extension this season, keeping him as head coach until 2031.
Illinois has made it past the second round of the NCAA tournament 16 times under Dancer. Players have praised his style of coaching all season long. Illinois saw the rise of Miyoshi and Mroz under coach Dancer this season and being named coach of the year is a befitting reward for the veteran coach.
Silver standard incoming class
Illinois men’s 2025 recruiting class has managed to better the already impressive top-15 ranking for women’s tennis. According to TRN rankings, Illinois’ 2025 class is No. 2 in the nation.
The Illini began their recruiting spree with the Hungarian duo of David Bakonyi and Adam Jilly. They have already played together quite a lot in junior Tennis and amassed titles together as well. Bakonyi has had a career-high ITF junior ranking of No. 182 while Jilly has been No. 111. The Hungarian duo has won eight doubles titles together and several titles individually.
The recruiting class adds more power with blue-chip recruit Sasha Colleu. He has been ranked No. 16 in the 2025 TRN class rankings. The Florida-native has J100 tournament wins in Quebec City, Mexico City and Delray Beach.
To top it off, Illinois has most recently signed Australian Hayden Jones. He earned wild card entries to qualify for the Australian Open in 2024 and 2025. The 2024 Australian Tennis Junior Male Athlete of the Year has a career-high No. 8 ITF rankings.
The Illini have a mighty recruiting class. With seniors leading the team and youngsters to step up, Illinois tennis looks like a treasure box waiting to be opened this upcoming season.
