The 2026 Midwest Conference Women's Tennis Preseason Coaches Poll was released on Thursday and the Foresters were second in the rankings.

Voting is done by the MWC head women's tennis coaches. Each coach votes for the other seven teams in the league in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (seven points for first, six for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.

Lake Forest has been the league's runner-up each of the last seven seasons after claiming the program's last MWC title in the fall of 2018. The team's 41 points in the poll were eight fewer than top-ranked Grinnell College's total and the Foresters garnered one first-place vote while the Pioneers had seven. Luther College and Cornell College and were next with 35 and 134 points, respectively. Illinois College, Lawrence University, Monmouth College, and Ripon College rounded out the field.

Among Lake Forest's returning players are former MWC Players of the Year and Newcomers of the Year Sofia Strupovets (2023) and Lilli Dockal (2024). They repeated as champions at the top two spots in the singles lineup and together at #1 doubles at the 2025 MWC Individual Tournament. They were also joined as All-MWC selections by Anya Mookencherry, who added league titles at #3 singles and #2 doubles. The 2025-26 Foresters posted an overall record of 16-5 and placed second in the MWC at 5-1 in league play. They also advanced to the final of the four-team MWC Tournament, a feat they have accomplished each of the last eight times the event was held, and finished the season 47th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings.

Under seventh-year head coach Scot Reinhart, Lake Forest will open the 2026-27 season by taking on Milwaukee School of Engineering and the hosts at the Wheaton Invite on Saturday, August 29. The Foresters will begin conference play two weeks later against visiting Cornell College and will host Grinnell the next day (September 13). The team's fall schedule includes the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Tournament in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and will conclude on October 17.

The top four teams in the regular season league standings will earn spots in the MWC Tournament, which will be held in the spring on Saturday, May 1. The winner of the event will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, which begins later in May.

Lake Forest will also travel south for Spring Break and play additional dual matches in March and April.