Illinois and USC Awarded Men’s Tennis Weekly Honors

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference has announced its men’s tennis weekly awards for matches played March 5-8, 2026.

Player of the Week 1111
Zach Viiala, Illinois
R-So. – Perth, Australia – School of Isolated and Distance Education

• Helped No. 11-ranked Illinois go 3-0 – and outscore opponents 14-1 – in dual wins over Northern Illinois, No. 58-ranked Oregon and Washington
• Finished 4-0 overall (2-0 singles, 2-0 doubles) on the week, winning 75.5 percent of his games (37-11)
• Dropped just two games in four sets of singles action, posting a double bagel win over Oregon at the No. 6 flight
• Partnered with Sasha Colleu to clinch the doubles point in a win over Washington
• The Big Ten Distinguished Scholar earns his first Big Ten Player of the Week accolade

Freshman of the Week
Branko Djuric, USC
Fr. – Budva, Montenegro – SMS Danilo Kis

• Registered a 3-1 record as No. 22-ranked USC opened its conference schedule with road wins at Purdue and No. 46-ranked Indiana
• Won a pair of tiebreakers to down Purdue’s Nour Fathalla, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6) at No. 1 singles
• Followed with a 6-2, 7-5 win over NCAA singles qualifier Sam Landau of Indiana on center court
• Joined forces with Max Exsted to secure the doubles point against Purdue
• Lone loss of the week was a 6-4 setback to the nation’s 57th-ranked doubles team

2025-26 Big Ten Men’s Tennis Player of the Week
Sept. 17       
P: Ozan Baris, Sr., MSU
F: Adam Jilly, Fr., ILL|

Sept. 24       
P: Nikita Filin, So., OSU

Oct. 1          
P: Aidan Kim, Jr., OSU
F: Sam Olszakowski, ORE

Oct. 8          
P: Nicholas Steglehner, Sr., MICH
F: Arnav Bhandari, Fr., MICH

Oct. 15        
P: Sam Landau, Sr., IND
F: Jeri Lassila, Fr., NEB

Oct. 22        
P: Spencer Johnson, Jr., UCLA
F: Max Dahlin, R-Fr., MICH

Nov. 5         
P: David Saye, Sr., MSU

Nov. 12       
P: Jack Anthrop, Sr., OSU
F: Max Dahlin, R-Fr., MICH

Jan. 14         
P: Bjorn Swenson, Sr., MICH
F: Max Exsted, Fr., USC

Jan. 21         
P: Alex Okonkwo, Jr., OSU
F: Sasha Colleu, Fr., ILL

Jan. 28         
P: Alexander Bernard, Sr., OSU
F: Jeri Lassila, Fr., NEB
F: Max Exsted, Fr., USC

Feb. 4          
P: Nikita Filin, So., OSU
F: Cooper Han, Fr., NU

Feb. 11        
P: Max Dahlin, R-Fr., MICH
F: Max Dahlin, R-Fr., MICH

Feb. 18        
P: Jack Anthrop, Sr., OSU
F: Kyle Chesman, Fr., PSU

Feb. 25        
P: William Mroz, Sr., ILL
F: Max Exsted, Fr., USC

March 4       
P: Gabriel Debru, Fr., ILL
F: Adam Jilly, Fr., ILL

March 11     
P: Zach Viiala, R-So., ILL
F: Branko Djuric, Fr., USC