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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini men's tennis team begins their Texas road swing Saturday afternoon in Austin against No. 8 Texas at 1 p.m. Embarking on their toughest road trip of the season, Illinois will face Texas, Texas A&M and TCU in three consecutive days from March 14-16. Illinois meets No. 9 Texas A&M in College Station Sunday at Noon before taking on No. 17 TCU in Fort Worth Monday at 11 a.m.

"We are looking forward to the great challenge of this trip," head coach Brad Dancer said. "We billed it as the March through Texas and have some special supporters accompanying the squad. We are competing against excellent coaches and teams and relish the unique opportunity."

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
The Illini will clash with the Longhorns and Aggies for the second consecutive season. Illinois defeated Texas (4-3) and Texas A&M (4-1) in consecutive days last season inside Atkins Tennis Center. The Aggies would get revenge at the National Indoor Championships, as they took down the Illini 4-2.

Texas
The Longhorns enter the weekend ranked No. 8 nationally with a 12-1 record. Their only loss came to Ohio State at the ITA National Indoor Championships. Texas defeated No. 8 UNC and No. 14 Wake Forest at home this season. The Longhorns sport three ranked singles players led by Soren Hess-Olesen who ranks No. 2 nationally. Lloyd Glasspool ranks No. 52, while Adrien Berkowicz ranks No. 60. Texas also has the 35th ranked doubles team in Glasspool and Hess-Olesen.

Texas A&M
The Aggies enter the weekend ranked No. 9 nationally and currently have a 7-2 record. After loosing to TCU in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, Texas A&M have proven themselves against some of the top teams in the nation. Texas A&M took down No. 5 Ohio State and No. 1 Oklahoma at home this season. The Aggies currently have four ranked singles players in No. 48 Harrison Adams, No. 65 Jeremy Efferding, No. 71 Shane Vinsant, No. 89 AJ Catanzariti. Texas A&M also strong in doubles with the has the No. 9 doubles team in Adams and Vinsant and the No. 26 doubles team in Efferding and Jordan Szabo.

TCU
The 17th ranked Horned Frogs enter the weekend 9-5 overall and 4-0 at home. TCU currently has three ranked singles players in No. 31 Cameron Norrie, No. 39 Nick Chappell and No. 116 Guillermo Nunez. TCU sports three ranked doubles teams in No. 23 Norries/Johnson, No. 29 Chappell/Stein and No. 60 Johnson/Wiggins.

ILLINI IN THE RANKINGS
The Orange and Blue now stand at No. 4 in the nation. Individually, the Illini have a total of five ranked singles players with three players ranked in the top 50, including Jared Hiltzik (#18), Tim Kopinski (#32) and Aleks Vukic (#49). Rounding out the ranked Illini are Farris Gosea at No. 61 and Aron Hiltzik at No. 76. The Illini also sport the No. 12 doubles team in Tim Kopinski and Ross Guignon.

STRONG STARTS
Jared Hiltzik is off to a perfect 12-0 start this season. No. 18 Hiltzik, who plays the majority of his matches at the No. 2 position, has defeated six ranked players, including Notre Dame's Josh Hagar in the Illini's most recent match on Feb. 28.

Senior Tim Kopinski is also off to a hot start for the Illini, as he enters the weekend with a 12-1 dual record. Kopinski plays a majority of matches at Illinois' No. 3 singles and is 1-1 against ranked opponents.

Freshmen Toshiki Matsuya has also gotten off to strong start the season in singles. Matsuya is currently 6-1 and has played in 11 dual matches this season.

TOUGH SLATE
The Illini have faced a slew of ranked opponents this season. Illinois have faced a total of seven teams that were ranked in the top-25 on their date of competition. The Illini have gone an impressive 5-2 and hold three top-10 wins including at No. 6 Baylor on Jan. 21, No 6. North Carolina on Jan. 31 and No. 8 Ohio State at the ITA National Indoors.

In the Big Ten dual season the Illini have defeated Purdue (6-1), Northwestern (5-2) and Indiana (7-0) so far. Currently four Big Ten teams are ranked in the top-25 in Illinois (#4), Ohio State (#10), Northwestern (#16) and Minnesota (#22).

FRESHMEN SUCCESS
Three freshmen have frequently been in the lineup for the Illini this season. Two of the freshmen suiting up in the Orange and Blue are currently ranked in Aleks Vukic (#49) and Aron Hiltzik (#76). Hiltzik is off to an 8-3 start to his freshmen dual season and plays a majority of his matches at Illinois' No. 4 singles. Vukic is off to a 9-1 start, playing a majority of his matches at Illinois' No. 4 and 5 singles. Toshiki Matsuya is off to a 6-1 start and has played at least two matches at Illinois' No. 4, 5 and 6 singles.

JEROLD BEGER
The Illini men's tennis program is saddened by the passing of Illinois tennis alum Jerry Beger (1966).

"It is a very sad day for me personally and for the Fighting Illini Family," Dancer said. "Jerry was one of our most loyal supporters. I always looked forward to catching up with him and being around his passion for Fighting Illini Tennis. We will miss him dearly."