Following its first weekend off since the season started on Jan. 18, Illinois (3-6) is back at the Atkins Tennis Center for a Saturday doubleheader. Beginning at 10 a.m. against Western Michigan (7-4) and immediately returning to action at 1 p.m. against Chicago State (0-1), Illinois is looking for another pair of wins before conference play. Western Michigan and Chicago State are the first and only non-Power 4 teams Illinois will play this season.
ITA rankings update
Illinois earned No. 47 in the Feb. 25 team rankings in spite of a 3-6 record. This is due to the ITA ranking algorithm accounting for opponent quality, and all six of Illinois’ losses came against teams that are currently in the top 30. Also working in Illinois’ favor is that all of its wins came against teams in the top 75: No. 33 Northwestern (7-5), No. 54 Iowa State (7-2) and No. 72 Colorado (6-3).
It’s Illinois’ second straight week in the rankings after expanding from top-25 to top-75 on Feb. 20. The Illini debuted at No. 41 but dropped slightly after not playing any resume-strengthening matches between updates.
Individually, No. 112 junior Violeta Martinez is back in the singles rankings after briefly dipping out. Martinez also joined the doubles charts alongside sophomore Alice Xu, sitting at No. 67. It is Martinez’s first time being ranked in doubles this season, while Xu was No. 9 and No. 89 next to senior Megan Heuser at other points.
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Climbing to the top
Junior McKenna Schaefbauer made history ahead of the 2023-24 season and became head coach Evan Clark’s first-ever transfer portal addition. The Normal, Illinois, native spent time around the program growing up but ultimately played her freshman year at No. 53 South Carolina (6-4).
Last year, Schaefbauer progressively worked her way up Illinois’ singles ladder. Less than three months after debuting on court six (Jan. 14, 2024), Schaefbauer had solidified herself as Illinois’ No. 2 singles player. She held down court two in 13 of Illinois’ last 14 matches, with the only exception being a promotion to court one when Heuser missed a match.
This season, Schaefbauer has been Illinois’ No. 1 in all nine matches and most notably delivered the clinching win over Iowa State’s No. 81 senior Anna Supapitch Kuearum.
“(Schaefbauer)’s just done an incredible job,” Clark said after Schaefbauer defeated Supapitch Kuearum. “I think she’s had a tough time with her mindset … she’s going to take a couple losses but she’s going to keep getting opportunities. We keep talking about making the most of opportunities and she did that today. She didn’t play pretty, but she was a bit smarter than she has been in the past. It was great.”
Schaefbauer and the Illini will look to end non-conference play on a high note this Saturday. Action begins at 10 a.m. against Western Michigan before a 1 p.m. meeting with Chicago State.
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