In a match that will pay homage to the most celebrated Illini men’s tennis players of all time, the team of the present will be hoping that recent history is not too quick to repeat itself.

Following a tough loss at No. 13 LSU last week in Baton Rouge, La., the Illini and their unblemished 3-0 record in Big Ten play return to the Atkins Tennis center for a 1 p.m. face-off with visiting Northwestern on Saturday, as the program is set to celebrate 100 years of Illini men’s tennis.

At least half of the 16-member All-Century team will be on hand for Saturday’s match against the Wildcats, which will also honor the 1946 Big Ten Championship team in a joint ceremony that will take place between the doubles and singles competitions.

For sophomore Marc Spicijaric, the presence of the past Illini greats will be a chance to prove that the team is still as feisty and competitive as ever.

“It’ll give us extra motivation to play well,” Spicijaric said. “We want to show them that Illinois was strong when they were here and that it’s still strong now. We’re a really tough team, and we have a lot of talent, so we want to put that on display for them this weekend.”

The No. 8 Illini will be looking for any extra motivation they can get as they try to rebound from last week’s disappointing loss.

Junior Brandon Davis was confident that the team’s hard work and preparation for Saturday’s match would help the Illini reverse their fortunes.

“Since (LSU), we’ve been working pretty hard,” Davis said. “The whole team is clicking right now. We had a tough loss, but in this sport there is a lot of that. You always have something to prove every match, but especially after a loss you want to come back and make a statement.

We’re right in the thick of the Big Ten season right now, so we have to step it up.”

For the fourth straight match, the Illini will be without the services of junior Ruben Gonzales, who continues to be sidelined with an undisclosed injury. The absence of Gonzales, who is tentatively scheduled to return in a week, head coach Brad Dancer said, has forced some of the players to compete outside of their normal lineup spots.

For Dancer, this is somewhat of a blessing in disguise.

“We don’t like playing without (Gonzales), but at the same time it’s giving opportunities to the other guys like Jordan (Knue), and Brandon is playing a higher position, so it forces these guys to step up and play at a higher level,” Dancer said. “You have to find the opportunity inside of every difficult situation, and I think that our guys are doing that.”