Illinois men’s tennis (13-9, 6-3 Big Ten) will play Purdue (16-9, 3-6) on the road this weekend to finish out the regular season, but not before hosting its final home match against Indiana (16-11, 6-3).

When the Illini take the courts against the Hoosiers on Friday, the young team of nine — seven underclassmen — will recognize its two seniors for last regular-season match at Atkins Tennis Center. But seniors Bruno Abdelnour and Stephen Hoh aren’t ready to be done.

“I don’t feel like its been four years. I would love to keep playing for the Illini, but it’s just the reality of it,” Abdelnour said. “I don’t think (my season) went as well as I wanted it to. A lot of injuries. … But hopefully I can end on a good month and do what I was planning on.”

Hoh added how happy he has been with how far the team’s culture has come in his senior year. He feels it has done its part in setting a good example to the younger players, but he still plans on going out and “leaving everything on the court.”

Abdelnour and Hoh will get their chance to turn around their games, but it may not be easy against an Indiana team that ties Illinois for fourth place in the Big Ten behind Ohio State, Michigan and Minnesota, respectively. In terms of what each team brings to the table though, it would seem the Illini have the upper hand.

With No. 31 Jared Hiltzik leading the Illini squad, coming off an undefeated weekend, Hoosiers numbers don’t speak much resistance, having no players ranked in the top 100. And despite the conference tie between the two teams, Indiana doesn’t post an impressive resume, having lost to the same teams in the Big Ten by mostly larger deficits and boasting no significant wins over ranked teams this season.

“Still, Indiana is a great team,” head coach Brad Dancer said. “They’ve beaten us two years in a row. That’s a little bit frustrating for us and just being ready for what they bring Friday.”

The biggest Hoosier threat comes from its No. 19 doubles duo of Sam Monette and Isade Juneau, sitting just behind Illinois’ No. 11 sophomore tandem of Tim Kopinski and Ross Guignon. The Illini pair is on a 9-1 run together, backed by a 5-0 record against nationally ranked opponents this season.

Kopinski and Guignon have helped the Illini’s doubles game rebound, producing an improvement from the season’s 1-6 start to 12-10 for doubles matches won; although, Dancer still sees holes in their game.                              

“We’ve been able to put two consistent teams out there, but we haven’t been able to do three,” Dancer said. “In time, that puts a lot of pressure on the other teams.”

Similar to last weekend’s structure, which saw Ohio State (26-2, 9-0) and Penn State (8-14, 2-7), the Illini will start with the better of the two this weekend. Though Purdue’s .640 win percentage hasn’t eluded the Illini, who are at .591, and Dancer said the team has to treat it just as tough as any other match.

“We’re really focusing on positioning for the NCAA tournament, what we need to do to be in the best position for the NCAA tournament,” Dancer said. “That’s both from a ranking perspective and a little more of a mindset perspective. … We really need to focus on where we need to be mentally going into the matches.”