Redbird Men’s Tennis Opens The 2024-25 Fall Campaign at River Forest Collegiate Invitational

RIVER FOREST, Ill.-- The Redbird men's tennis team will officially open up the 2024-25 campaign at its first team tournament of the fall this weekend at the two-day River Forest Collegiate Tennis Invitational, hosted by Northern Illinois University.

WEEKEND SLATE 

The teams will play a round of doubles matches on Friday morning beginning at 9 a.m. and then two rounds of singles in the afternoon. Saturday begins with the last two rounds of doubles before singles competition wraps up at 1 p.m.  The tournament will be held at the River Forest Tennis Club, with some matches also taking place at the Oak Park Tennis Center. 

TOURNEY FIELD 

The Redbirds will be competing against DePaul, Eastern Illinois, Marquette, Northern Illinois, UIC, and Western Michigan. The tournament will be played on clay courts and is free and open to the public. 

SCOUTING THE REDBIRDS (SUMMIT) 

• The Redbirds went 14-14 in 2023-24, going 8-1 at home and 3-2 in the Summit League. 

• ISU returns five members from last year's roster including the No. 1 doubles pair of Tin Ostro and Adrian Dibildox. The Redbirds are a veteran squad with five juniors and one sophomore. 

• Head coach Mark Klysner enters his 12th season at ISU in 2024-25. 

• The Birds welcome in East Florida State College transfer, Jett Leong, prior to the 2024-25 season. 

SCOUTING THE BLUE DEMONS (BIG EAST) 

• DePaul come off a 14-10 campaign in 2023-24, including 5-2 at home and 4-1 in the Big East. 

• The Blue Demons return nine members and welcome in freshman Thomas Giles. 

• Matt Brothers enters his 18th season at the helm of DePaul men's tennis. 

• DePaul and ISU last collided in 2022 when the Blue Demons prevailed 4-3 in Wilmington, N.C. 

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES (MAC) 

• Northern Illinois finished their 2023-24 season with a record of 18-6 overall and 10-1 at home. 

• NIU returns a youthful squad with two freshmen, four sophomores, and only three juniors. 

• Rene Vidal enters his second season with NIU after leading the Huskies to a 12-3 record in 2024. 

• The Huskies and Redbirds last met in last year's River Forest Collegiate Classic as NIU's No. 1 doubles pair in Christopher Norlin and Gaztambide Arrastia took down Emiliano Gonzales and Tin Ostro of the Redbirds. 

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES (BIG EAST) 

• In 2023-24, Marquette posted an overall 4-17 record with a 1-7 home record. 

• MU returns three upperclassmen to the lineup in Ivan Vazquez, Teddy Wong and Blake Roegner. The Golden Eagles welcome six freshmen and one sophomore to the Upper Peninsula. 

• Jud Shaufler will begin his 15th season with the Marquette tennis program. 

• Marquette and Illinois State met last season in Milwaukee, as ISU shut out the Golden Eagles, 7-0. 

SCOUTING THE BRONCOS (MAC) 

• Last season, the Broncos finished 17-6 overall with a 9-1 home record and 8-2 in MAC play. 

• WMU returns seven members from last year's squad as well as bring in five freshmen for 2024-25.  

• Dave Morin enters his 28th season in Kalamazoo with the Western Michigan Broncos. 

• In the last meeting against the Redbirds, WMU prevailed by a score of 5-2 last February. 

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS (OVC) 

• EIU finished 2023-24 with an overall record of 3-19, including 1-3 in Illinois and 2-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference  

• The Panthers are made up of three seniors, two juniors and five newcomers to the Land of Lincoln. 

• Robin Cambier begins his second season as Director of Men's and Women's Tennis for the Eastern Illinois Panthers. 

• The Panthers and Redbirds met last season, as ISU claimed a 7-0 victory in Normal. 

SCOUTING THE FLAMES (MAC)  

• UIC ended last season with a 10-11 overall record combining with a 6-4 home record and a 2-8 mark in the Mid-American Conference. 

• The Flames return top players Elliot Dam and  Mihailo Savic. 

• UIC head coach Jovan Parlic will begin his third year with the Flames in 2024-25. 

• UIC's last meeting against Illinois State ended in a 4-3 Flames victory last March. 

SCOUTING THE BEARS (UAA) 

• WashU posted an overall 13-2 record and a 6-3 home record in 2023-24. The Bears did not play any conference matches last season.   

• The Bears return four seniors, four juniors, two sophomores and welcome in three newcomers. 

• Roger Follmer will begin his 24th season at the helm of the Washington University Bears. Follmer has a career record of 393-144 (.732) 

• Last season, WashU's doubles pair of  Akshay  Saluja  and Nathan Tam fell to Illinois State's  Caden  Scarlett  and Tomas Valencia by a score of 6-2. 

This weekend's tournament will be the first of five scheduled this fall for the Redbirds, who will next return home to host the 7th Annual Redbird Invitational on September 20-22. ISU will then head to Tulsa, Oklahoma, from September 21-29, to compete in the ITA All-American Championships before competing in the 67th Annual Men's College Invite in San Diego, California, from September 26-29.  The fall slate will wrap up October 10-14 in East Lansing, Michigan, at the ITA Midwest Regionals.  

For all the latest on Illinois State men's tennis, stay tuned to GoRedbirds.com and follow the team on "X" (RedbirdMTEN) and Instagram (redbirdmtennis).

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