The Illinois men’s tennis team travels to Michigan this weekend to take on Michigan State and Michigan.

For the Illini, this will be the last road trip of the season, but it is also critical for other reasons. The men will have to perform well, despite the long road trip to East Lansing, Mich., for Saturday afternoon’s match and to Ann Arbor, Mich., on Sunday.

The men are looking to bounce back after Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to Kentucky. The loss was their first at home in two years – a streak that dates back to March 7, 2002, when the Illini lost to Notre Dame.

“We are better in my opinion,” said Illinois head coach Craig Tiley. “We are better than we played (on Wednesday) – we controlled the situation; we didn’t take advantage of it.”

Not only are the Illini facing stiff competition, they are also facing two coaches who know many aspects of their playing styles. Michigan is a much-improved team, Tiley said. The Wolverines are led by former Illinois associate head coach Bruce Berque, who is the Wolverines head coach, and Illinois alumnus Michael Kosta, who is the Wolverines associate head coach.

“Bruce will get them competing hard against us and get them motivated to play us,” said Tiley.

However, it will not be the first time several Illini have faced their former mentor. Illinois junior Ryler DeHeart won the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional singles title over Michigan sophomore Brian Hung this fall.

DeHeart and sophomore GD Jones also picked up the doubles title at that event, which was hosted at the Michigan Varsity Tennis Center. DeHeart went on to win the ITA National Indoor singles title at the Michigan Varsity Tennis Center, as well.

However, most importantly, the Illinois athletes will focus on the little improvements that could make their games better and would have made the difference in Wednesday night’s match.

“We talked to these guys about improving and getting better games,” Tiley said.