No. 4 Illinois men’s tennis is set to play No. 5 Nebraska at the Combe Tennis Center in Evanston, Illinois at 11 a.m. today to kickstart postseason play. If Illinois wins, they move on to play No. 1 Ohio State at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
Illinois is heading into the postseason with a winning streak of six after defeating Indiana last Sunday 4-0.
“I’m super happy for the seniors to get that victory,” Illinois head coach Brad Dancer said after the Indiana match.
Dancer especially praised Illinois senior Alex Petrov for his performance. Petrov played very well, adding to the Illini’s lead, and also placed himself at 6-2 in Big Ten play.
Illinois maintains a strong record against Nebraska, and the team goes into tomorrow with a 12-1 overall record advantage over them. The Illini’s only loss against them came two years back in the 2021-22 campaign in April on the Cornhusker’s home court.
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About three weeks ago, the team traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska to face off against Nebraska for its first matchup against them this season. Senior Hunter Heck successfully defeated his opponent here, going 6-1, 6-1 in straight sets. Given the triumphs Heck has had thus far, there’s hope he will translate his regular season success into this postseason.
Nebraska is led by interim head coach Peter Kobelt and is 4-1 since last seeing Illinois, picking up wins against Northwestern (6-1), Indiana (5-2), Purdue (5-2) and Penn State (7-0). The singular loss came against No. 1 Ohio State (6-1), a competitor no one looks forward to competing against.
Illinois men’s tennis is heading into the postseason today with great energy and eagerness. The team looks to Nebraska in hopes of starting the postseason off on the right foot.
