McLean County Times

Illinois State University's men's tennis team is preparing for a challenging weekend of matches against Ball State University and the University of Notre Dame. The Redbirds will host Ball State at Evergreen Racquet Club on Saturday at 4:30 p.m., before heading to South Bend, Indiana, to face Notre Dame on Sunday, January 26, at 3 p.m.

In their most recent outing, Illinois State secured victories in a doubleheader against Marquette University and Eastern Illinois University (EIU) with scores of 4-3 and 6-1 respectively.

The team's doubles pair, Tomas Valencia and Caden Scarlett, are currently ranked No. 116 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings with a score of 4.66.

Head coach Mark Klysner anticipates competitive matches over the weekend. "This is going to be a fun weekend of matches," Klysner stated. "Every time we play Ball State I feel like it comes down to the last match so this should be a great test for the boys."

Klysner also commented on the upcoming match against Notre Dame: "We fortunately get an opportunity to play a nationally-ranked team in Notre Dame on Sunday which will be a huge test for us but more importantly give us a better idea of where we are at this early in the season."

Ball State University competes in the Mid-American Conference and finished last season with an overall record of 12-10. Last week, they faced defeats against Michigan Wolverines and Indiana University.

Notre Dame belongs to the Atlantic Coast Conference and ended last season with an overall record of 13-14. Recently, they played matches against Princeton, Yale, and Saint Joseph's.

Fans can follow Illinois State men's tennis updates through GoRedbirds.com as well as on social media platforms X (RedbirdMTEN) and Instagram (redbirdmtennis).