University of Illinois
NC State
Illinois Travels To Ole Miss for ITA Kickoff Weekend
January 28, 2022 | Men's Tennis
Preview
| No. 25 Illini at ITA Kickoff Weekend | |
|---|---|
| When | Saturday 4 pm CT | Sunday 10 am / 2 pm CT |
| Where | William F. Galtney Indoor Tennis Center | Oxford, Miss. |
| Follow Live | Live Stats and Video |
| Opponents | NC State | Oklahoma | Ole Miss |
Illinois men's tennis will travel to Oxford this weekend for the ITA Kickoff. They will face NC State in the first match on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 4 pm CT then play either Oklahoma or Ole Miss on Sunday, Jan. 30.
Illinois has not played NC State since the 1958 season where they defeated the Wolfpack 8-1. The Illini are 2-4 against Ole Miss all time and 3-5 against Oklahoma.
Win both matches and the Illini will win the regional and punch their ticket to Seattle for the ITA Indoor Championships scheduled for Feb. 18.
Last Time Out
Illinois played its home openers against Ohio State and Chicago State. he Illini fell to Ohio State 4-0 in the first match of the day before bouncing back to defeat Chicago State 4-0.
In The Rankings
The Illini ranked No. 25 in the ITA coaches poll release Wednesday Jan. 26. Three Illini were included the singles rankings on Dec. 8, graduate transfer Olivier Stuart at No. 97, Alex brown at No. 113 and Kweisi Kenyatte at No. 116.
B1G Champs
Illinois was the first Big Ten West Division Title winner last season. Following the regular season championship Illinois was a no. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament. The defeated Indiana 4-0 before matching up against Michigan in the semifinals. Illinois battled back to defeated the Wolverines 4-2. In the finals they were up against OSU, who they lost two in the regular season. The match lasted over three hours and the Illinois came out with the 4-3 win.
Key Pieces Return
Alex Brown, Hunter Heck, Kweisi Kenyatte, and Siphosothando Montsi all return to the team in 2022. Brown was an All-American in 2020 and played doubles no. 1 and singles no. 2 for Illinois last season. Monsti, who reached the Sweet 16 last season in the singles tournament and was named and All-American after posting a 16-3 singles record during the season is back. Kenyatte missed the second half of the season with an injury but had a couple key wins for Illinois including in their season opening upset of No. 1 USC. After a successful freshman season where his comeback win 0-6, 6-3, 7-5 against JJ Tracy who had been undefeated until then gave Illinois a point in the Big Ten Championship.
New Faces
Last season fifth year seniors Zeke Clark, Aleks Kovacevic, and Noe Khilf played big roles in the teams success. To fill the holes left but the graduated senior Brad Dancer and assistant coach March Asse brought in four new Illini. The first was Mercer transfer Olivier Stuart who played four years at Mercer before sitting out last season and transferred to the Illini. Stuart is joined by freshmen Gabrielius Guzauskas, Will Mroz and Karlis Ozolins.
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