Big Ten Reveals 2026 Women’s Tennis Postseason Awards

ROSEMONT, Ill. - Ahead of the 2026 Big Ten Women’s Tennis Tournament presented by Allstate, the conference announced its 2026 women’s tennis all-conference teams and individual honors on Wednesday following a vote among the league’s head coaches 

Ohio State’s Teah Chavez was named Player of the Year, while head coach Melissa Schaub was named Coach of the Year. In its inaugural season as an award, the Big Ten revealed two Doubles Teams of the Year, with Buckeye duo Luciana Perry and Flora Johnson and USC’s Lily Fairclough and Krisha Mahendran named co-winners of the newly created award. UCLA’s Mayu Crossley was selected as Freshman of the Year.  

Chavez is ranked fifth in the latest ITA singles rankings with a 14-1 record in dual matches, a 6-1 mark in Big Ten play and 20 wins overall. She is the seventh Buckeye to be named Player of the Year and the first since Irina Cantos Siemers in 2023. Chavez was also a unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten First Team. 

Perry and Johnson are ranked 32nd in the latest ITA doubles rankings and lead Ohio State with a 12-2 mark this spring. The Buckeyes enter this week’s tournament having won the doubles point in their last 10 matches. 

Fairclough and Mahendran are ranked 29th in this week’s doubles rankings and posted an 8-4 record in Big Ten play on court one. The pair earned four ranked wins against conference opponents during the regular season. 

Crossley was named Freshman of the Week five times during the regular season and led the Bruins with a 17-3 record in dual play. Fifteen of her dual singles wins came in straight sets, and she went 4-1 against nationally ranked opponents, including three top-20 players. She also leads UCLA with 11 doubles wins this spring and earned All-Big Ten First Team honors, along with unanimous All-Freshman Team recognition. 

Schaub was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the fifth time in her career after leading the Buckeyes to a conference championship, their first since 2022. Ohio State finished the regular season with a 21-3 record, including a 12-1 mark in conference play, and will host as the top seed in this week’s tournament. The Buckeyes are ranked fifth in this week’s ITA team rankings, marking their 11th consecutive week in the top five after peaking at No. 2 earlier this season. 

In addition to Chavez, Illinois’ McKenna Schaefbauer, Ohio State’s Perry, UCLA’s Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer and Wisconsin’s Maria Sholokhova were unanimous First Team honorees. 

The complete list of All-Big Ten Teams and Sportsmanship Honorees can be found below.  

2026 Big Ten Women’s Tennis Postseason Awards

Player of the Year: Teah Chavez, Jr., Ohio State 
Co-Doubles Team of the Year: Flora Johnson/Luciana Perry, Ohio State 
Co-Doubles Team of the Year: Lily Fairclough/Krisha Mahendran, USC 
Freshman of the Year: Mayu Crossley, UCLA 
Coach of the Year: Melissa Schaub, Ohio State 

 
All-Big Ten First Team 
MCKENNA SCHAEFBAUER, Sr., Illinois 
Mia Mack, Jr., Iowa 
Piper Charney, Jr., Michigan 
Lily Jones, Sr., Michigan 
Reese Miller, Jr., Michigan 
TEAH CHAVEZ, Jr., Ohio State 
LUCIANA PERRY, Jr., Ohio State 
ANNE-CHRISTINE LUTKEMEYER, Sr., UCLA 
Mayu Crossley, Fr., UCLA 
Jana Hossam, So., USC 
Reece Carter, Sr., Washington 
MARIA SHOLOKHOVA, Sr., Wisconsin 

All-Big Ten Second Team 
Oliwia Orlinska, So., Maryland 
Maria Taranova, Jr., Nebraska 
Katie Spencer, Fr., Nebraska 
Margot Phanthala, Fr., Northwestern 
Audrey Spencer, Jr., Ohio State 
Nao Nishino, So., Ohio State 
Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev, So., Ohio State 
Tilde Jagare, Jr., Oregon 
Patricia Grigoras, So., Penn State 
Eugenia Zozaya, Fr., USC 
Erika Matsuda, Sr., Washington 
Ekaterina Ivanova, So., Wisconsin 

All-Freshman Team
Kimiko Cooper, Illinois 
Alessandra Teodosescu, Indiana 
Magdalena Baniak, Maryland 
Katie Spencer, Nebraska 
MARGOT PHANTHALA, Northwestern 
Hephzibah Oluwadare, Ohio State 
MAYU CROSSLEY, UCLA 
EUGENIA ZOZAYA, USC 
Krisha Mahendran, USC 
KAEDE USUI, Wisconsin 

Sportsmanship Honorees
Alice Xu, Illinois  
Hi'ilani Williams, Indiana 
Nikita Vishwase, Iowa  
Tamari Gagoshidze, Maryland  
Lily Jones, Michigan  
Oriana Parkins-Godwin, Michigan State 
Jeselle Ante, Minnesota  
Yuzu Miyoshi, Nebraska  
Autumn Rabjohns, Northwestern 
Megan Basil, Ohio State  
Hinata Furutani, Oregon 
Brianna Baldi, Penn State 
Kayal Gownder, Purdue 
Stella Schmitz, Rutgers 
Daniela Borruel, USC 
Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer, UCLA 
Erika Matsuda, Washington 
Kaede Usui, Wisconsin 

ALL CAPS denotes unanimous selection