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Illinois women’s tennis head coach Evan Clark was named Big Ten Coach of the Year on Thursday morning.
Clark is the first Illinois head coach to earn the honor in 31 years.
The Illini finished the regular season with a 21-5 record and fell in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament to Michigan last week. Illinois made it as high as No. 5 in the rankings and have been ranked for a majority of the season.
Junior Jaclyn Switkes also earned honors, being named to First-Team All-Big Ten. Switkes is 18-9 in singles play this season and 19-11 in doubles play.
Illinois opens play in the NCAA Tournament — its first appearance since 2012 — on Friday, May 11, versus Princeton in Lubbock, Texas.