KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan women's tennis team opens its 2026 Spring Schedule hosting Chicago State on Friday at 12:30 p.m. at West Hills Athletic Club and then travel to Notre Dame on Sunday for an 11 a.m. match.
Admission to all WMU women's tennis home matches is free.
FIRST ONE
Friday's match is he first dual match for interim head coach
Stephen Payne. Payne joins the women's program after spending five seasons as an assistant for the WMU men's team. During his time as an assistant he has helped coach the team to two MAC Tournament Championships and four consecutive MAC Regular Season Titles from 2021-24. WMU has produced 14 All-MAC selections during Payne's time as assistant coach and two MAC Player of the Year award winners in Jannik Opitz (2021) and Anton Arzhankin (2025). Opitz also left WMU as the all-time winningest player in program history.
WMU has also done well in the classroom with Payne as an assistant, posting 26 Academic All-MAC selections, including in 2023 when the entire team earned the honors.
Payne graduated in 2016 from Western Michigan with a Bachelor's Degree in Management. He played four seasons for WMU from 2012-2016 winning two MAC Championships. Payne also achieved a career-high ITA Doubles Ranking of #37 in January of 2016. He is a two-time Hap Sorensen Coaches' Award Winner, he was a part of the 2014 and 2015 WMU Doubles Team of the Year with Matt Hamilton. Payne also served as a team captain.
OH CAPTAINS, MY CAPTAINS
Earlier this week the Broncos named
Lola Glantz, Paulina Khotko and
Audrey Smitek as team captains. Glantz is in her second season with WMU after transferring from Florida Gulf Coast. She was WMU's No. 1 in singles last season and went on to earn the Leann Grimes Davidge Sportsmanship Award. Khotko was the 2023-24 MAC Freshman/Newcomer of the Year and enters her third and final season with the Broncos. Smitek has had a significant impact since playing as a freshman. She heads into the Spring season, needing just four total wins to reach 100 for her career.
ALMOST EVEN
The 2025-26 team has a good mix of veterans and underclassmen. Glantz and Khotko are graduate students, while Smitek is a senior.
Julia Frazier is the lone junior on the squad.
Marielou Baudouin,
Sienna Osborne and
Frida Weijerman are back for their sophomore campaigns and are joined by freshmen
Xingtong Jiang (Shanghai, China) and
Ayana Yaguchi (Tokyo, Japan).
ON THE HORIZON
The Broncos are back at home next Friday for a double-header, hosting Illinois State at 10:30 a.m. and Grand Valley State at 4 p.m.
