Huskers Open Big Ten Tournament Against Illinois

After concluding the regular season, the Nebraska women’s tennis team is set to begin the 2026 postseason with the Big Ten Tournament, hosted by Ohio State in Columbus. NU (15-8, 7-6 Big Ten) will face Illinois (12-12, 7-6 Big Ten) on Thursday, April 23 at 8 a.m. (CT), at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center. The Huskers are back in the tournament for the first time since 2024 after capturing a successful season, grabbing the most conference wins in a season since winning nine in 2022. 
 
Nebraska seeks to avenge its 4-0 regular season loss to the Fighting Illini to advance to the Quarterfinal round, where the winner is set to play top-seeded Ohio State. 
 
NU is coming off road losses at No. 29 Wisconsin and Minnesota last weekend, by scores of 4-1 and 4-2 respectively. Despite the losses, third-year head coach German Dalmagro closed out the most successful regular season of his tenure so far with the Big Red. 
 
The Huskers enter the tournament as the ninth seed, the highest seeding the team has earned since grabbing the No. 6 seed in the 2022 Big Ten Tournament. In the ITA national rankings, the Big Red enter the tournament at No. 47, while Illinois checks in at No. 55. After a split weekend, Husker duo Conley Raidt and Katie Spencer are ranked No. 40 in the nation. 
 
#55 Illinois (12-12, 7-6 Big Ten)
History: Illinois holds an all-time series advantage of 9-7 over NU. The last matchup between the teams was an Illinois sweep over Nebraska in Lincoln this season. Illinois currently has one singles player in the rankings in No. 58 McKenna Schaefbauer, and one doubles group in No. 67 Tess Bucher/Alice Xu. The Illini capped off their regular season with a 4-1 victory over Maryland in College Park. 
 
Thursday’s action vs. Illinois will be streamed on Big Ten Plus, and live stats will be available via huskers.com. Stay up to date with Nebraska Women’s Tennis by following social media channels (@HuskerWTennis) for postseason updates and content.