Illinois had a successful weekend at the Nebraska Invite. The team posted a strong 17-6 singles record and went 22-10 during doubles play. This was the first full team event for the 2025-2026 squad. No.32 Illinois saw opponents from Wichita State, Iowa State, Kansas State, Missouri and Nebraska.
Debuts in doubles
The Illini kicked off the weekend with eight doubles matches. Sophomore Cara Mester made her Illinois debut, teaming up with senior McKenna Schaefbauer. They took home Illinois’ first victory of the event, 7-5, against Missouri graduate student Mary Brumfield and senior Andrea Artimedi.
Freshmen Lizzie Isyanov and Risa Ueno made their collegiate debut together but fell to Wichita State seniors Tatyana Nikolenko and Vichitraporn Vimuktananda 6-4. Sophomore Tess Bucher also made her Illinois debut while paired with junior Alice Xu. The two dominated in back-to-back wins, defeating Iowa State junior Valeska San Martin Ramirez and sophomore Gabriela Felix 6-2.
Key singles matches
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Schaefbauer led off for the Illini in singles play. She won her first match 6-1, 6-4 against Wichita State senior Theodora Chantava. Schaefbauer was one of three Illinois players to go undefeated in singles play.
The freshmen, Isyanov and Ueno, also had perfect singles records. They looked like veterans in their one-on-one matches, each going 3-0. Isyanov won matchups against Nebraska junior Yuzu Miyoshi and Nikolenko both in a dominating 6-1, 6-2 fashion. Meanwhile, Ueno’s biggest win came against Kansas State freshman Mallory Renfro. Ueno took complete command of the match, winning 6-0, 6-0.
Rounding things out
Bucher and Xu had the best weekend in doubles play. Their combined efforts led them to a perfect 4-0 in duals. After a disappointing outing at the ITA All-American Championships, sophomore Ariel Madatali had a strong bounce back. She took on Brumfield and claimed her first singles victory of the year 6-2, 6-1. She ended the event with a solid 2-1 singles record.
The Illini look to follow up on their success at the UTR Pro Tennis Tour. The seven-day tournament kicks off Monday at the Atkins Tennis Center.
