Illinois men’s tennis is set to begin the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday, May 3, against Toledo at the Boone Tennis Center in Lexington, Kentucky at noon. If Illinois wins against Toledo tomorrow, they move on to play either DePaul or host, Kentucky at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Subcommittee selected 64 teams and 16 first and second-round sites for the 2024 NCAA Division I men’s tennis championship. Per NCAA policy, the top 16 seeds are guaranteed to host if a bid was submitted and criteria were met, and matchups between conference opponents were avoided in the first two rounds of the championship.
Illinois has already matched up with Toledo, hosting the Rockets at the Atkins Tennis Center a few months ago. They defeated the Rockets 4-0, giving a good test for this NCAA opening round. Illinois also followed that match with a face-off against Kentucky, but was unable to win, dropping the match, 4-3.
The win in January put Illinois at a 5-0 record over Toledo. Illinois won its first match over Toledo back in 1965 and successfully took them down during their next meetup in 2008.
Toledo has won six consecutive matches, including victories over Northern Illinois and Western Michigan to win the Mid-American Conference Championship. The Rockets are not ranked in the ITA rankings but secured a guaranteed playoff berth by coming out victorious in the MAC championships.
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As for Illinois, its six-match winning streak was broken last week by Nebraska in the Big Ten tournament. Illinois head coach Brad Dancer recognized Nebraska’s skill set but noted his team’s ability to still respond well under any circumstances and challenge difficult opponents.
“Huge credit to Nebraska,” Dancer said. “I thought they played a great match. We put pressure on them at every position and they responded. We fought hard, but we didn’t manage certain moments as well as we could, and Nebraska just kept coming.”
The team has been putting in hard work and has been prioritizing “keeping things difficult for their opponents.” With this mindset, the Illini have been able to improve over the course of the season and truly hone in on the little things that make a difference between a win and a loss.
Despite the loss to the Cornhuskers last week, the Illini head into tomorrow’s match as the clear favorites, ready to take on the Toledo Rockets in hopes of advancing further in the NCAA tournament.
