Women’s Tennis Captures Multiple All-Big Ten Honors

The Nebraska women’s tennis team garnered multiple 2026 All-Big Ten Honors, the conference announced Wednesday. Among the players honored were Maria Taranova and Katie Spencer, who both were named to the All-Big Ten Second Team. Spencer was also named as an All-Freshman Team honoree.

Taranova finished the spring regular season with a 9-7 overall singles record, including wins over three separate ranked conference opponents, No. 69 Phanthala (Northwestern), No. 109 Blackford (Michigan St.) and No. 70 Matsuda (Washington). As the main player at No. 1 singles for the Big Red, three of Taranova’s losses came against top-20 opponents. 

Spencer, who also earned a Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor on April 8, led the team in spring victories in singles (12) and doubles, tied with Reya Lee Coe in spring doubles victories also with 12. Spencer has garnered a 5-2 singles record in the Big Ten, floating between the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, and earning a conference victory at the No. 1 spot in the Huskers’ final regular season match against Minnesota. 

In doubles play, Spencer is 12-6 overall, and is paired up with Conley Raidt as the 40th-ranked doubles team in the country. The duo is 6-2 on the season, with the same record in the Big Ten and at the No. 1 doubles spot. They have captured three ranked victories, including a top-15 victory over Ohio State’s Oluwadare/Chavez. Spencer had a standout freshman season as Nebraska’s highest-ranked recruit of all time.

In addition, Yuzu Miyoshi earned Sportsmanship honors from the Big Ten, closing out her career as a Husker with 37 combined victories in her two years with the team. 

Big Ten 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