2016-17 Schedule
NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State men's tennis head coach Mark Klysner released the schedule for the 2016-17 season Thursday.
"I am looking forward to our season this year," Klysner said. "I think we have a good mix of very challenging teams including many who were in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings last year. Hosting the Missouri Valley Conference Team Championships this year will also be a great experience for the guys and one that we hope to take advantage of."
The Redbirds begin their fall season Sept. 24 and 25 at the Western Michigan Vredevelt Invitational in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and will travel to Oklahoma, Indiana and Ohio before hosting the Illinois State Invitational.
"The fall season will be very similar to years past, playing in some familiar tournaments and also with the hope that we do well in those to earn some individual spots into the ITA Midwest Regionals and ITA All-Americans," Klysner said.
Following the WMU Invitational, the Redbirds will head to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the ITA All-American Championships. Next, the team will travel to the Valpo Fall Invitational in Valparaiso, Indiana, as the fall season meets its halfway mark. After that, the team will travel to their final away match in Columbus, Ohio, for the ITA Midwest Regionals. ISU will conclude its fall season by hosting the Illinois State Invitational in Normal Oct. 28 through Oct. 30.
Illinois State will host seven regular-season spring matches, plus the Missouri Valley Conference Team Championships. The Redbirds will start off their spring campaign Jan.19 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a doubleheader against Arkansas Pine Bluff and Tulsa.
From there, ISU will travel to Arkansas, Chicago State and Marquette before returning home to face Eastern Illinois Feb. 4.
In February, the team will travel to Dayton, Ohio, to play back-to-back matches on Feb. 11 and 12. Next, ISU will head to Louisville, Detroit and Toledo, before returning home to host Western Michigan Feb. 25 and Northern Illinois Feb. 26.
To begin March, the Redbirds will host a match against Saint Louis March 4 and will then travel to DePaul in Chicago, The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee. Following that road trip, ISU will open Missouri Valley Conference play by hosting Wichita State March 31.
On April 8, the Redbirds will head to their last away match at Drake in Des Moines, Iowa, and from there, they will return home to host two matches, one against Omaha April 9, and another April 15 against MVC foe Southern Illinois. To conclude the spring season, the Redbirds will host the Missouri Valley Conference Team Championships April 28-30 at the Gregory Street Tennis Courts.
The Redbird men's tennis team has five returning players, four of which are upperclassmen. The squad also features two new freshman along with a new graduate assistant coach.
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