University of Washington
Northwestern
Huskies Hit the Road to Open Big Ten Play, Face Ranked Northwestern and Illinois
March 05, 2026 | Men's Tennis
SEATTLE - The University of Washington Men's Tennis Team (6-6) returns to play this weekend, with matches scheduled for Friday night versus No. 42 Northwestern (11-3) and Sunday morning against No. 11 University of Illinois (9-3). The Huskies are coming on the back of a 1-2 performance at the Diablo College Invitational where they lost a heartbreaker against now No. 59 Liberty by a 2-4 scoreline and 0-4 to Michigan State, while defeating, in a full team performance highlighted with wins by senior Brett Pearson and freshman Hyeonseok Seo, against Tulane by way of 4-3.
Live Stat and Streaming Information
Over the weekend, live streaming and live stats will be made available through both Northwestern and Illinois' websites, with links being provided through Washington Tennis social channels on match day.
Husky Stats of Note
Starting from doubles, No. 58 Brett Pearson and Soham Purohit are coming into Big Ten play riding an eight-match unbeaten run dating back to the January 24th, ITA Kickoff matchup with South Florida. Prior to the Tulane match up, the duo was on a four-match win streak with multiple DNFs sprinkled throughout. Moving to singles, the Husky number one, Soham Purohit, and number two, Stephane Kamendje, positions are leading the pack as currently they are 7-3 and 7-2 on the year, with the number three being 5-5 with Rohan Belday being responsible for all five wins as he's 5-3 from the three. Brett Pearson and Stephane Kamendje roll into Evanston with single-match win streaks as they both won against Tulane and DNF'd in their matches against Michigan State.
Husky History against the Wildcats and Fightin' Illini
The Huskies make their first trips to Illinois as members of the Big Ten. This will be the 9th meeting in series history with the Wildcats and the 8th meeting against the Illini. Currently, the all-time record against Northwestern is 5-3, and 1-6 against Illinois. In last season's match up in Seattle, the Huskies defeated the Wildcats 4-0, while they lost 1-6 against the Illini.
Weekend Scouting Report
Northwestern enters the Friday match up ranked at 42nd in the nation with an 11-3 record, zero ranked singles players, but the No. 26 doubles pair. Illinois comes into the Sunday match up being the 11th-ranked team with a 9-3 record with 4 players ranked in the top 125 singles, 23rd, 26th, 70th, and 111th, and the No. 46th-ranked doubles partnership. Both Northwestern and Illinois are coming off weekends in which they went undefeated, with Northwestern defeating Illinois-Chicago and Illinois defeating No. 8 Baylor and No. 6 TCU at home. Illinois hosts a doubleheader Friday evening, with Northern Illinois and Oregon making the trip to the Atkins Tennis Center prior to the Huskies' match up on Sunday.
UP NEXT
Washington host their first Big Ten matches of the year with Purdue (March 13) and Indiana (March 15) traveling to Montlake as conference opponents for the first time.
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Players Mentioned
