| Michigan Live Scoring

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini men's tennis team travels to Michigan this weekend to face Michigan State on April 4 and Michigan on April 5. Both matches are slated for 11 a.m. CT. Illinois enters the weekend 17-3 overall and tied for first in the Big Ten at 5-0.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Michigan enters the weekend 3-12 overall and 0-4 in conference. They currently have no ranked singles or doubles players. Alex Petrone plays No. 1 singles, posting a 1-10 record. Michael Zhu leads the team with seven dual victories this season. The Wolverines have won the doubles point in four of their last seven matches.

Michigan State enters the weekend 11-10 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten. The Spartans have the 17th ranked doubles team in Mullane/Jadun. The duo is 5-2 against ranked doubles teams. Gijs Linders plays at No. 1 singles for the Spartans and is 7-10 on court one. Also expect to see Brett Forman at No. 2 singles, where he has recorded a 9-6 record.

ILLINI IN THE RANKINGS
The Orange and Blue now stand at No. 3 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 (#22), Tim Kopinski (#42) and Aleks Vukic (#50). Rounding out the ranked Illini are Aron Hiltzik at No. 52 and Farris Gossea at No. 64. The Illini also sport the No. 11 doubles team inTim Kopinski and Ross Guignon. In addition, the duo of Jared Hiltzik and Tim Kopinski moved into the rankings this week and sit at No. 75.

B1G ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
The Illini have garnered three B1G Tennis Athlete of the Week honors this season from three different athletes. Jared Hiltzik earned his fifth Big Ten weekly award on Feb. 17 for grabbing straight set wins over top-30 ranked players at the 2015 ITA Men's Indoor Championships. Aron Hiltzik earned his first weekly award on March 17, securing two victories over ranked opponents in the Illini's wins over No. 8 Texas (4-2) and No. 9 Texas A&M (4-2). Aleks Vukic just recently earned his first weekly award by going a perfect 4-0 last weekend, helping propel the Illini to home victories over Penn State (6-1) and No. 11 Ohio State (4-0).

STREAK BUSTERS
In a matchup of first-place Big Ten teams, the Fighting Illini men's tennis team swept No. 11 Ohio State, 4-0, on March 29 inside Atkins Tennis Center. With the victory, No. 3 Illinois snapped the Buckeyes' 97-straight regular season Big Ten winning streak that dated back to 2005.

Illinois now holds the conference's longest streak, having won their last 17 matches.

STRONG STARTS
Jared Hiltzik is off to a 15-1 start the dual season and has defeated eight ranked players. The junior is a perfect 10-0 when playing as Illinois' No. 2 singles.

Aleks Vukic has been dominant in his first season in the Orange and Blue, sporting a 13-1 dual record. Vukic, who is 7-0 at Illinois' No. 4 singles, has clinched road victories for the Illini against No. 6 Baylor and No. 9 Texas A&M this season. The freshman currently leads the team with a winning streak of 11 matches.

Tim Kopinski is currently 14-3 in the dual season, having won seven of his last 10 matches. Aron Hiltzik currently sports the second longest winning streak on the team at nine matches. Hiltzik is 11-3 overall this dual season.

FRESHMEN SUCCESS
Three freshmen have frequently been in the lineup for the Illini this season. No. 52 Aron has come on strong for the Illini, having clinched a road victory over No. 14 Notre Dame this season. No. 50 Aleks Vukic has been dominant in his first season in the Orange and Blue, sporting an 11-1 dual record and is 7-0 when playing at No. 4 singles. Toshiki Matsuya is off to an 8-2 start and has played at least two matches at Illinois' No. 4, 5 and 6 singles.

TOUGH SLATE
Illinois has faced a slew of ranked opponents this season, totaling 11 matches against teams that were ranked in the top-25. The Illini have gone an impressive 8-3 and hold five 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. Recently the Orange and Blue have garnered wins over No. 8 Texas and No. 9 Texas A&M during their `March Through Texas.'

In the Big Ten season, the Illini have defeated Purdue (6-1), Northwestern (5-2) and Indiana (7-0), Penn State (6-1) and No. 11 Ohio State (4-0). Currently three Big Ten teams are ranked in the top-25 in Illinois (#3), Ohio State (#11) and Northwestern (#19).