No. 5 Buckeyes Top Illinois 4-0 in Big Ten Quarterfinals

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The No. 5 ranked Ohio State women's tennis team beat Illinois 4-0 Friday to advance to Saturday's Big Ten Tournament semifinals. Ohio State is now 22-3 overall. In the tournament, Ohio State is the No. 1 seed and Illinois (13-13) is No. 8.

Ohio State plays at 11 a.m. Saturday in the semifinal of the 2026 Big Ten Tennis Tournament against the winner of No. 4 seed UCLA and No. 5 seed Washington in the Auer Tennis Complex. During the regular season, the Buckeyes beat the Bruins 4-0 and Huskies 4-2.

In the quarterfinals against the Fighting Illini, the Buckeyes took the lead with doubles victories from Teah Chavez and Hephzibah Oluwadare and Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Audrey Spencer. The singles points were clinched by Luciana Perry, Oluwadare and Chavez in straight sets to give the Buckeyes the 4-0 win.

How it Happened

On court two, the No. 27 ranked duo of Teah Chavez and Hephzibah Oluwadare beat Ariel Madatali and McKenna Schaefbauer 6-0.

To earn the doubles point for the Buckeyes, Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Audrey Spencer defeated Lizzie Isyanov and Cara Mester 6-3 on court three.

No. 4 ranked Perry clinched the first singles point on court one with a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 58 ranked Schaefbauer.

The Buckeyes took the 3-0 lead when Oluwadare topped Mester 6-3, 6-4 on court six.

To clinch the victory, No. 5 Chavez beat Kimiko Cooper 6-4, 6-2 on court two.

Chavez improved to a team best 15-1 in singles dual matches. Perry is now 12-3 and Oluwadare is 6-4.

In doubles, Cisse-Ignatiev and Spencer are 10-3 and Chavez and Oluwadare are 8-8.

The Results

Illinois vs Ohio State

4/24/2026 at Columbus, Ohio

(Auer Tennis Complex)

#5 Ohio State 4, #55 Illinois 0

Singles competition

1. #4 Luciana Perry (OSU) def. #58 McKenna Schaefbauer (ILLINI) 6-3, 6-1

2. #5 Teah Chavez (OSU) def. Kimiko Cooper (ILLINI) 6-4, 6-2

3. #76 Nao Nishino (OSU) vs. Alice Xu (ILLINI) 6-3, 5-0, unfinished

4. #122 Audrey Spencer (OSU) vs. Ariel Madatali (ILLINI) 6-4, 4-1, unfinished

5. Alessia Cau (OSU) vs. Tess Bucher (ILLINI) 5-7, 3-3, unfinished

6. Hephzibah Oluwadare (OSU) def. Cara Mester (ILLINI) 6-3, 6-4

Doubles competition

1. #32 Flora Johnson/Luciana Perry (OSU) vs. #67 Tess Bucher/Alice Xu (ILLINI) 5-3, unfinished

2. #27 Teah Chavez/Hephzibah Oluwadare (OSU) def. Ariel Madatali/McKenna Schaefbauer (ILLINI) 6-0

3. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev/Audrey Spencer (OSU) def. Lizzie Isyanov/Cara Mester (ILLINI) 6-3

Match Notes:

Illinois 13-13; National ranking #55

Ohio State 22-3; National ranking #5

Order of finish: Doubles (,2,3); Singles (1,6,2)

Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals

Ohio State No. 1 seed, Illinois No. 8

Official: Chris Citrone T-1:55

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