URBANA, Ill. – The Illinois women's tennis team host Rutgers, Maryland and Southern Illinois this weekend. The Fighting Illini will play Rutgers on Saturday, March 25 at 11 a.m. CT, and will play Maryland and Southern Illinois in a Sunday doubleheader, with the first match against Maryland set for 11 a.m. and the Southern Illinois match at 4 p.m.

"I think we kind of start over a little bit," said head coach Evan Clark. "We are going into the bulk of the Big Ten schedule. We are just really focused on taking one match at a time in the Big Ten. We feel really confident heading into the Big Ten this year with the teams we have played and how we have played those teams, some of them top 10, so we are excited to get back into the Big Ten and make a splash. Our goal is always to finish in the top few teams and we think we have a shot of even winning the Big Ten, so we are excited to get that started this weekend."

Illinois defeated Saint Louis last weekend, 4-1, after narrowly being defeated by top-10 Texas Tech, 4-2. The Illini will look to improve on their 5-9 record. Rutgers will enter the match with a 5-6 mark, including wins against Delaware and Bradley. Maryland, the 33rd-ranked team in the country, has wins against Iowa, Marshall and VCU, and will play Northwestern before taking on Illinois. Southern Illinois has a match against Wichita State on Saturday, prior to the match against the Illini.

"We have played a lot of different teams that we haven't seen, really ever, or at least see on a year-to-year basis," Clark said. "It's always nice to get back into playing the Big Ten. We have a lot of respect for the Big Ten and take a lot of pride in playing in the Big Ten. It will be great to be at home, first of all. Hopefully we start a little conference streak here."

FREE FIGHTING ILLINI YOUTH TENNIS CLINIC ON SATURDAY

Illinois women's tennis will have a free youth clinic following Saturday's match against Rutgers, open to any and all boys and girls age 13 and younger. A liability waiver must be completed as part of registration, and all clinic participants will receive an Illini T-shirt. Participants can check-in at the marketing/promotions table upon arrive at the match, and the table will be in the proshop on the east side of Atkins. For more information, visit FightingIllini.com.

UP NEXT

Illinois will be on the road for the next two weekends, with matches at Iowa on Friday, March 31, and at Nebraska on Sunday, April 2. The following weekend, the Illini will travel to Indiana on Friday, April 7, and Purdue on April 9.