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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini men's tennis team will host Kentucky Friday night at 6 p.m. inside Atkins Tennis Center before traveling to West Lafayette, Indiana Saturday to face Purdue in their first conference match of the season at 5 p.m. CT.

FOR STARTERS
The Illini enter the weekend 4-1 on the season after surviving a challenging home stretch in which they hosted No. 11 Duke and No. 6 North Carolina in consecutive days. Illinois dropped a close match to Duke, 4-3, Friday, but responded with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over North Carolina on Saturday. Tied 3-3 with the Tar Heels and Farris Gosea trailing No. 2 Brayden Schnur, 5-2, in the third set, Gosea survived, breaking Schnur at 5-4, and forced a tiebreaker which he would claim 7-5 to secure the upset.

THROWN INTO THE FIRE
Three freshmen have emerged in the lineup early in the season and have proven to be strong contributors. No. 44 Aleks Vukic has played in four dual matches this season and was the clincher in the 4-3 upset victory over No. 6 Baylor in the season opener. Vukic sports a 2-1 record with one win over a ranked opponent. No. 62 Aron Hiltzik has played in four dual matches at the No. 3 position for the Illini to start the season and has a 1-2 record. Toshiki Matsuya has played three dual matches to start the season and is coming off an impressive victory at the No. 6 position in the victory over North Carolina.

2015 OUTLOOK
The Illini currently rank 5th in the nation and return everyone from a stellar 2014 season in which the Illini produced the most wins since 2006 (24-9) and reached the NCAA Sweet 16 for the seventh time under head coach Brad Dancer. The Orange and Blue currently have four ranked singles players in No. 31 Jared Hiltzik, No. 40 Tim Kopinski, No. 44 Aleks Vukic and No. 62 Aron Hiltzik. Illinois also has the No. 3 doubles team in the nation in Kopinski and Ross Guignon.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Kentucky comes in with a 2-5 record, having been shutout by #8 Ohio State last weekend. All five of the Wildcats' losses this season have come against teams currently ranked in the top-25. Individually, Beck Pennington leads the Wildcats and ranks 92nd in the nation. The Illini have faced Kentucky in each of the last two seasons. Illinois defeated the Wildcats 4-2 last season on the road in a match up of top-15 teams. In 2013, the Illini handed No. 7 Kentucky their first loss of the season in a 4-3 upset victory.

SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS
Purdue enters with a 2-3 record to start the season. Historically, Illinois has had dominating success against Purdue, accumulating a 96-10-1 against the Boilermakers. The Illini have won 24 consecutive matches against Purdue, last dropping to the Boilermakers in 1993. Last season the Illini defeated Purdue 5-2. Ricky Medinilla leads Purdue indivually with a national ranking of 84. 

UP NEXT
The Illini will head to Chicago to compete as the host team in the ITA Team Indoor Championships from Feb. 13-16.