NORMAL, Ill. – The 2021 season has begun with nine contests on the road for the Illinois State men's tennis team, however that all changes this weekend as the Redbirds finally return home to host four matches in three days at the Bloomington Tennis & Turf complex.
The busy weekend will start with a Friday doubleheader against DePaul at 1 p.m. and versus Illinois-Springfield at 6 p.m. A Saturday evening match against Eastern Illinois is set to begin at 6 p.m. and the weekend will wrap up Sunday with a 9 a.m. contest against Bellarmine.
"I've been looking forward to this weekend simply because it's been a year since we've played a home match," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said. "We have four tough matches this weekend and I expect the other teams to give us a fight. It's been an odd week with the weather and not getting scheduled practices I would have liked, but I think we will be ready. If we just start fast and focused in the first match, it will carry us through the weekend."
DePaul is off to a promising 2-1 start this spring, after defeating Creighton 6-1 in their BIG EAST opener last weekend. UIS also opened its 2020-21 spring season last Sunday with a shutout victory over Millikin. Eastern Illinois picked up its second win of the season on Thursday with a 5-2 win over Saint Louis and will play a Saturday doubleheader against the Redbirds and ISU's Sunday opponent Bellarmine, who is 2-7 this spring after splitting a pair of matches last weekend.
In accordance with state and local guidelines, fans are currently not allowed to attend home ISU Athletics events.
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