The Illini women’s tennis team has been anticipating the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Regional tournament all season.

The players want to see how much progress they have made this fall.

The main draw of the tournament, hosted by Minnesota, begins on Friday and concludes on Tuesday with the singles championship.

Three Illini players are scheduled to compete in the singles main draw: senior Cynthya Goulet, who is ranked no. 110 in the country, junior Brianna Knue and sophomore Emily Wang, who have the team’s best singles record this fall at 6-2.

Three other Illini, freshmen Macall Harkins and Momei Qu along with junior Pavlina Akritas, are looking to reach the main draw via the qualifying round. Qu is the first alternate for the main draw and could earn a berth if an Illini player has to withdraw for any reason.

Three doubles teams are set to compete this weekend: No. 44 Goulet and Wang, Knue and Harkins and Akritas and Qu.

There is plenty at stake in the tournament. The singles finalists and the doubles champion from this event will earn spots in the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, Nov. 4-7, at Michigan.

The results of this competition determine the regional and national rankings that are released prior to the spring team dual-match season.

Illinois head coach Sujay Lama believes the ITA Regional Tournament will be the best competition the team will see all fall.

“The competition is going to be tremendous,” Lama said. “We have geared our fall season around the Regionals.”

With the competition at the tournament this weekend, the Illini can see how far they have come since their first tournament at Western Michigan.

“We are looking forward to it,” Lama said. “Our team has made a lot of progress, and this is an opportunity to see where we are, compared to our regional opponents.”