When the Illini take the court in Tulsa, Okla., on Friday for the NCAA Round of 16, they will find a familiar foe staring at them from across the nets.

For the third time this season, the men’s tennis team will face off against Big Ten rival and second-ranked Ohio State – except this time, a trip to the quarterfinals will be on the line.

A rivalry that head coach Brad Dancer characterized as “one-sided the wrong way lately” dropped two April losses on the Illini’s record, both by a slim margin, the most recent coming in the championship match of the Big Ten Tournament.

Dancer, however, approached the setbacks as a part of a larger “learning experience” that he has emphasized in recent weeks.

A close second-round victory against No. 18 LSU last Saturday was a testament to Dancer’s philosophy.

“Even losing the Ohio State matches, it’s always a good experience for you,” Dancer said. “‘OK, just stay with it, stay with it,’ and then you play matches like (the LSU match) where you stay with it and win it, and that’s what you have to tell yourself.

“It’s not always going to go your way and you have to battle through those things and hang tough.”

Last season, the Illini faced a similar situation in the NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes served up a 7-0 regular season shutout in Columbus, Ohio, and weeks later felled Illinois 4-1 in the Big Ten Tournament Championship.

After losing the conference championship, the Illini regrouped and never looked back, winning five-straight matches on their way to the NCAA Championship game. One of the five matches in particular, a 4-2 win against Ohio State, draws favorable parallels for this year’s team.

“I think last year we put the work in and it kind of paid off in the end,” senior Ryan Rowe said. “I think it’s kind of the same way this year. I think a lot of us are a lot better since the last time we played them, and conditions will be a little different, and we’ll be ready to take them.”

Losses on the top-three singles courts doomed No. 15 Illinois in both matches against the Buckeyes this season, though individual records suggest the team has hit its stride.

Seniors Rowe and Ruben Gonzales have been the picture of consistency at No. 1 and No. 2 singles. The pair has combined for just 9 losses in 40 total matches since the National Indoors in mid-February.

Sophomore Billy Heiser has provided a spark in the lineup as well, highlighted by a clinching performance in the win against LSU last weekend – the first time this season that Illinois emerged victorious after dropping the doubles point.

While there is some reason for optimism, the team will admit that Ohio State has had their number in recent years, though not when it counts the most – NCAA Tournament time.

“We both don’t like to lose to each other,” Gonzales said. “It’s obviously been a long rivalry, and it’s going to be like that for years to come.

“I think we’re even more ready this time and we know what to expect.”

Another chapter in the Illinois-Ohio State rivalry will be written on a Friday afternoon in Tulsa, but the question remains: Will recent history repeat itself?