Northwestern University Athletics
Friday, February 6
Evanston, Ill.
3:30 p.m. CT
Northwestern
0
vs
4
Auburn
NU Falls to Top-15 Foes in ITA National Team Indoor Championships
2/8/2026 11:35:00 PM | Women's Tennis
EVANSTON, Ill. — Facing the nation's top teams, No. 8-seed Northwestern women's tennis fell in a trio of matches this weekend at the 2026 ITA Division I Women's National Team Indoor Championships.
The Wildcats (5-4) suffered setbacks against No. 1-seed Auburn, No. 4-seed Oklahoma State, and No. 7-seed Virginia. Each of Northwestern's opponents was ranked top 15 nationally.
"It might not look, on paper, that it was a successful weekend. 0-3 doesn't look successful, but I feel we're leaps and bounds better than we were a year ago," Head Coach Claire Pollard said. "I think the level is just better."
To open the weekend, hosting at the Combe Tennis Center, Northwestern came up short against the Tigers (13-0), 4-0. Despite one of the Tigers' players retiring while sophomore Erica Jessel and first-year Margot Phanthala led 3-2 at No. 2 doubles, Auburn took the doubles point.
The No. 4-ranked team in the country, the Tigers won the No. 2, No. 6, and No. 1 singles spots to capture the match. While her match went unfinished, junior Autumn Rabjohns was in the early games of a third set against the nation's No. 84 player, Angella Okutoyi. Occupying the team's No. 3 singles spot, Rabjohns had taken the first set 7-5.
Sophomore Maia Loureiro, at No. 4 singles, narrowly fell 7-6 (7-2) in the first set but held a commanding 5-2 lead in the second set against Ashton Bowers — the nation's No. 30 player — upon the match's completion. First-year Marelie Raath also forced a first-set tiebreak, facing the country's No. 31 player in Ava Esposito, but lost it 7-6 (7-3) at No. 5.
"I was really proud of the singles," Pollard said. "I thought we did a great job across the board, competed really hard. I was encouraged."
Northwestern returned to the courts Saturday night to take on the Cowgirls (3-3), the No. 8-ranked team nationally, but was defeated 4-1. After the Wildcats dropped the doubles point, sophomore Mika Dagan Fruchtman evened the match at 1-1. Playing at the No. 6 singles position, she led 6-0, 1-0 when her opponent retired.
Pollard said that she and Dagan Fruchtman have had multiple conversations about how to optimize her skill set, and Saturday's result put that work on display.
"She's really problem-solving to be a reliable point for us. I think that [match] is a big boost for her," Pollard said.
Oklahoma State then tabbed wins at the No. 5, No. 1, and No. 4 singles spots to secure its victory.
Northwestern's weekend was capped off by a 4-1 loss to the country's No. 15-ranked team, the Cavaliers (7-4). The match began with Virginia claiming the doubles point, as well as the No. 6 and No. 5 singles slots to take a 3-0 lead.
Phanthala, the No. 39 player nationally, notched a 6-2, 6-3 victory at the No. 1 singles position to put the Wildcats on the board. She defeated Vivian Yang, the No. 34 player in the country.
Pollard said that she feels Phanthala's offensive play worked to her advantage to earn her first singles victory of the weekend.
"I thought she played a lot more offensively today, and I was really pleased," Pollard said. "I think that's something we'll have her go back and watch repeatedly so that she can just differentiate when she was more aggressive. I felt like the first two matches [of the weekend], she got a little more passive."
The Cavaliers logged a victory at the No. 2 singles position to clinch the match.
Junior Neena Feldman, at No. 3, led 7-6 (8-6), 2-2 against the No. 75 player nationally in Martina Genis Salas upon the match's conclusion. She came back from down 4-1 in the first-set tiebreak.
"I thought we battled really well. I thought we were in a lot of the matches. I could definitely see a path to four [points]," Pollard said.
"I'm proud of our effort. I think we've grown from this and become a better team. Hopefully we'll see it pay off as the season goes on."
Next up, Northwestern will host Fordham inside Combe Tennis Center for its penultimate nonconference match on Sunday, Feb. 15. First serve is set for 10 a.m. CT.
The Wildcats (5-4) suffered setbacks against No. 1-seed Auburn, No. 4-seed Oklahoma State, and No. 7-seed Virginia. Each of Northwestern's opponents was ranked top 15 nationally.
"It might not look, on paper, that it was a successful weekend. 0-3 doesn't look successful, but I feel we're leaps and bounds better than we were a year ago," Head Coach Claire Pollard said. "I think the level is just better."
To open the weekend, hosting at the Combe Tennis Center, Northwestern came up short against the Tigers (13-0), 4-0. Despite one of the Tigers' players retiring while sophomore Erica Jessel and first-year Margot Phanthala led 3-2 at No. 2 doubles, Auburn took the doubles point.
The No. 4-ranked team in the country, the Tigers won the No. 2, No. 6, and No. 1 singles spots to capture the match. While her match went unfinished, junior Autumn Rabjohns was in the early games of a third set against the nation's No. 84 player, Angella Okutoyi. Occupying the team's No. 3 singles spot, Rabjohns had taken the first set 7-5.
Sophomore Maia Loureiro, at No. 4 singles, narrowly fell 7-6 (7-2) in the first set but held a commanding 5-2 lead in the second set against Ashton Bowers — the nation's No. 30 player — upon the match's completion. First-year Marelie Raath also forced a first-set tiebreak, facing the country's No. 31 player in Ava Esposito, but lost it 7-6 (7-3) at No. 5.
"I was really proud of the singles," Pollard said. "I thought we did a great job across the board, competed really hard. I was encouraged."
Northwestern returned to the courts Saturday night to take on the Cowgirls (3-3), the No. 8-ranked team nationally, but was defeated 4-1. After the Wildcats dropped the doubles point, sophomore Mika Dagan Fruchtman evened the match at 1-1. Playing at the No. 6 singles position, she led 6-0, 1-0 when her opponent retired.
Pollard said that she and Dagan Fruchtman have had multiple conversations about how to optimize her skill set, and Saturday's result put that work on display.
"She's really problem-solving to be a reliable point for us. I think that [match] is a big boost for her," Pollard said.
Oklahoma State then tabbed wins at the No. 5, No. 1, and No. 4 singles spots to secure its victory.
Northwestern's weekend was capped off by a 4-1 loss to the country's No. 15-ranked team, the Cavaliers (7-4). The match began with Virginia claiming the doubles point, as well as the No. 6 and No. 5 singles slots to take a 3-0 lead.
Phanthala, the No. 39 player nationally, notched a 6-2, 6-3 victory at the No. 1 singles position to put the Wildcats on the board. She defeated Vivian Yang, the No. 34 player in the country.
Margot with a dominant ranked W. ??
— Northwestern Women's Tennis (@NUWildcatTennis) February 9, 2026
The fy. took down #34 Yang: 6-2, 6-3. ?? pic.twitter.com/mChLQebShX
Pollard said that she feels Phanthala's offensive play worked to her advantage to earn her first singles victory of the weekend.
"I thought she played a lot more offensively today, and I was really pleased," Pollard said. "I think that's something we'll have her go back and watch repeatedly so that she can just differentiate when she was more aggressive. I felt like the first two matches [of the weekend], she got a little more passive."
The Cavaliers logged a victory at the No. 2 singles position to clinch the match.
Junior Neena Feldman, at No. 3, led 7-6 (8-6), 2-2 against the No. 75 player nationally in Martina Genis Salas upon the match's conclusion. She came back from down 4-1 in the first-set tiebreak.
"I thought we battled really well. I thought we were in a lot of the matches. I could definitely see a path to four [points]," Pollard said.
"I'm proud of our effort. I think we've grown from this and become a better team. Hopefully we'll see it pay off as the season goes on."
Next up, Northwestern will host Fordham inside Combe Tennis Center for its penultimate nonconference match on Sunday, Feb. 15. First serve is set for 10 a.m. CT.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3,1
#1 Singles Match
12
34
DJ Bennett / 0 (58/-) [AUB]
66
#2 Singles Match
12
22
E. Khairutdinova / 0 [AUB]
66
#3 Singles Match
123
730
Angella Okutoyi / 0 (84/-) [AUB]
56UF
#4 Singles Match
123
650
Ashton Bowers / 0 (30/-) [AUB]
72UF
#5 Singles Match
123
620
Ava Esposito / 0 (31/-) [AUB]
74UF
#6 Singles Match
12
13
Alice Battesti / 0 [AUB]
66
Order of Finish:
2,6,1
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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