The No. 9 Illinois men’s tennis team (11-5, 2-0 Big Ten) gets back into Big Ten play this weekend when it travels to Bloomington, Ind., to take on Indiana (9-10, 0-2) and nonconference opponent Ball State (7-6). This weekend will restore some regularity for the Illini after a hectic schedule last weekend, which included a home doubleheader with ESPN coverage and a cross-country trip to California to play another match within 48 hours. Illinois escaped the weekend with a 2-1 record against three top-50 opponents.  

Although the schedule isn’t as busy this weekend, the Illini will play their two matches on the road as a doubleheader. This will be the first time Illinois has played a road doubleheader this season, but it’s had plenty of experience, hosting doubleheaders in each of the past two weekends. Head coach Brad Dancer said he doesn’t think the preparation will change for his team.

“We want to maintain our fitness and strength levels and then just really look at each guy and see where they are and what they need to be doing,” Dancer said. 

The Illini coaching staff has been looking at sophomore Jared Hiltzik closely for the past two weeks. Ranked No. 7 in singles, Hiltzik hasn’t competed in match action since the team’s 4-2 loss to Texas A&M on Feb. 16 due to a nagging wrist injury. Hiltzik said his wrist was feeling a lot better last weekend, but he didn’t end up appearing in the Illini lineup for any of their three matches. 

“I mean it’s tough, but I’m looking forward to playing hopefully this weekend, and we’ll see how things go from there,” Hiltzik said. 

The Illini have been without both Hiltzik and sophomore Brian Page for more than a month, which has forced consistency in the lineup. With injuries reducing a roster from eight players to six, Dancer hasn’t been able to change his lineup. But while the lineup has had consistency, the Illini are still looking for it on an individual basis. 

“We’ve just got to get more consistent in our performances, and if we do that, I think we’re progressing the way we want to,” Dancer said. 

The Illini are also looking forward to returning to their usual match format. Last weekend, the Illini played a new, experimental format in all three of their matches, which played singles first and only went to doubles if the teams tied all six singles matches. This weekend, the Illini will go back to the standard format, where three doubles matches are played first and the winner of two earns a single point. Doubles is then followed by six singles matches, each worth a point. 

Returning to the usual format could be a big benefit for the Illini, who boast the third-best doubles pairing in the country in juniors Ross Guignon and Tim Kopinski. Illinois was on a hot streak in terms of doubles going into last weekend, winning four of its last five doubles points. 

The Hoosiers won’t make the Illini’s return to doubles easy, though, with the No. 44 pair of Sam Monette and Daniel Bednarczyk. Indiana also has No. 61 Sam Monette at its disposal, who could be a tough matchup for either No. 17 Farris Gosea or No. 42 Tim Kopinski. 

Brett can be reached at [email protected] and @blerner10.