Illinois kicked off its 2025-26 season this past weekend at the ITA Women’s All-American Championships in Cary, North Carolina. Senior McKenna Schaefbauer and sophomore Ariel Madatali represented the Illini in both the singles and doubles brackets.
Singles bracket
In the first match, Madatali faced off against Alabama sophomore Zara Larke. Madatali, fresh off a Big Ten All-Freshman Team appearance, took the first set 6-2. After that, Larke took control of the match, winning sets two and three. This loss eliminated Madatali from the main tournament.
Madatali played a second match in the consolation bracket against Washington State redshirt senior Maxine Murphy, but failed to win a set and was quickly out of the singles bracket.
Despite the losses, Madatali took a lot away from the tournament that she’ll use as she enters her sophomore season.
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“Now I know what to expect, I know that everyone’s really good,” Madatali said. “I’ll have to stay focused and play my game, and just play to win. That will help me this year.”
Senior sets stage
The veteran Schaefbauer had a little more success in her singles tournament run. She took down Arizona junior Martyna Ostrzygalo in her first-round matchup. Schaefbauer took a close set one 6-4, but dropped a close set two 5-7. The senior dominated set three 6-1 to advance.
In the second round of qualifiers, Schaefbauer faced off against Florida sophomore Nikola Daubnerova. The senior dropped the first set 2-6, and the second set in a tiebreaker 6-7 (4-7), ending her tournament run.
After making All-Big Ten Second Team last season, Schaefbauer is optimistic she can take another leap in her senior season after facing tough competition this weekend.
“First team would be great this year,” Schaefbauer said. “I’m just trying to build off of last year, trying to make little steps forward in my career as a whole.”
Doubles bracket
Schaefbauer and Madatali also competed in the doubles tournament. Their first match was against Oklahoma’s senior Barakat Quadre and junior Chloé Noël. The Illinois duo was quickly ousted from the tournament, dropping set one 3-6 and set two 2-6.
Illinois’ opponents in its consolation match withdrew due to injury, giving the duo the win.
With new additions to the team, chemistry is something that Illinois is still looking to hone in on. Schaefbauer seems confident they can get to that point.
“We’re still trying to build that chemistry, and every day I feel like we get a little bit closer,” Schaefbauer said. “Obviously, it’s super important in doubles to know your doubles partner and get a feel for what they like, what their strengths are, and how to build off of that.”
Experience for future
Going into the tournament, head coach Evan Clark talked about the competitiveness of the event and what he thought his players were going to get out of it.
“I feel like they belong and … I expect them to compete really well,” Clark said. “We just expect them to get some quality matches under their belt and … springboard them onto the rest of the fall.”
With the season still very young, Illinois will look to remain competitive as the year goes on. Illinois’ next event is the Nebraska Invite, Friday through Saturday.
