Fresh off its first victory in dual match play, the Illinois State mens tennis team is looking to continue its winning ways this weekend against Northern Illinois and DePaul.
The Redbirds travel to Northern Illinois on Saturday, February 16, at 1 p.m. and then head to DePaul for a 12 p.m. matchup on Sunday, February 17.
Leading the way for the Redbirds will be Ricky Heath and Jason Smit. Against Western Michigan and Bowling Green, Heath was undefeated in both singles and doubles action. With the wins, he improved his overall singles record to 14-6 and his overall doubles record to 10-7.
After being defeated by Western Michigans ace, Ravishankar Pathanjali, and Bowling Greens Geoff Hiscox, who is currently ranked No. 70 in the nation, Smit bounced back to win both of his doubles matches. With the wins, he improved his overall doubles record to 11-6.
Although the Redbirds have faced both Northern Illinois and DePaul during the fall season, they will need to be at their best this weekend. Both the Huskies and the Blue Demons are up and coming teams in their respective conferences.
We have seen both of these teams this season, and they are both very good, said head coach Greg Kennett. Both of these teams are very similar to us.
Northern Illinois comes into the weekend with a 3-3 record in dual match play. After dropping its first three matches, the Huskies have bounced back and are currently riding a three game winning streak. DePaul holds a record of 3-2 in dual match play. Javegeni Carlov, who is currently ranked No. 39 in the nation, will lead the Blue Demons into battle.
DePaul has challenged Illinois State for a long time, said Kennett. Javegeni Carlov is one of the best in the nation and he will be a real challenge for whoever plays him.
Overall, Kennett is optimistic about his teams chances, and looks to build upon their victory over Bowling Green.
Were going to play a similar lineup to the one we had against Bowling Green, said Kennett. We thought our doubles teams did really well with that lineup.
