WOMEN’S TENNIS
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Big Ten CommunicationsPublished: 10/15/2025, Last updated: 10/15/2025
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Penn State and Northwestern Claim Women’s Tennis Weekly Awards

Nittany Lions’ Uchijima and Wildcats’ Phanthala share weekly honors

Player of the Week 
Maiko Uchijima, Penn State 
Sr. – Tokyo, Japan 

  • Placed third at the ITA Northeast Regional singles competition while pairing with Olivia Dorner for a runner-up finish in the double's tournament at the event 
  • Uchijima went 5-1 in singles. She defeated Temple's Marianthi Christoforidou (7-5, 6-3), Delaware's Maryia Hrynashka (6-2, 6-3), Columbia's Malak El Allami (7-5, 6-0) and Princeton's Eva Elbaz (6-1, 5-7, 6-1) before falling in the singles semifinals to Penn's No. 78 Esha Velaga (7-6, 6-1) 
  • In the third-place match, the Tokyo, Japan native bested Columbia's No. 108 Gayathri Krishnan (6-2, 6-4) 
  • She paired with Olivia Dorner for a 5-1 doubles record, reaching the championship match at the ITA Northeast Regional for the second year in a row. The pair took down Wagner's Liepa Sataite/Alexia Estrada (8-4), Temple's Thamara Frasser Kawaratani/Christoforidou (8-0), Penn's Lara Stojanovski/Velaga (8-4), Princeton's Pearlie Zhang/Tsehay Driscoll (8-6) and the Tigers' Anna Maria Fedotova/Madeleine Jessup (6-4, 7-6) 
  • Last Penn State Player of the Week: Brianna Baldi (Sept. 17, 2025) 

 

Freshman of the Week 
Margot Phanthala, Northwestern 
Paris, France 

  • Made her collegiate debut at the Wolverine Invite in Ann Arbor, Mich., over the weekend, picking up the first top 10 victory of her career in her first-ever tournament, taking down the No. 10 ranked player, Michigan's Piper Charney, in straight sets (7-5, 6-2) 
  • Earned three total victories (two singles, one doubles) in three days of competition 
  • Last Northwestern Freshman of the Week: Erica Jessel (Feb. 19, 2025) 


2025-26 Big Ten Women’s Tennis Honorees 
Sept. 17 
P: Brianna Baldi, So., PSU 
F: Ameia Sorey, IND 
Sept. 24 
P: Ahmani Guichard, Jr., UCLA 
F: no selection  
Oct. 1 
Co-P: Teah Chavez, Jr., OSU 
Co-P: Maria Sholokhova, Sr., WIS 
Co-F: Krisha Mahendran, USC 
Co-F: Lucie Urbanova, WIS 
Oct. 8  
P: Hi’ilani Williams, Fr., IND 
F: Hadley Appling, ORE 
Oct. 15 
P: Maiko Uchijima, Sr., PSU 
F: Margot Phanthala, NU