CHICAGO, Ill. – Illinois men’s tennis will compete with its fourth ranked opponent of the season prior to the ITA National Indoor Tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. at the XS Tennis Village.
The Illini are looking for its first ranked win after losing to No. 4 Kentucky, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 14 North Carolina and No. 25 Duke.
This is the first time the two teams have met since the 2018-19 season in the MLK Invitational, where the Illini walked away with six-out-of-nine wins.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION | Georgia (4-3)
Head coach Manuel Diaz — the SEC’s all-time winningest coach with 744 career victories — is in his 35th season leading the Georgia men’s tennis program.
Diaz has led the Bulldogs to an astounding 28 SEC championships in 35 years. He has also guided Georgia to four NCAA national titles (1999, 2001, 2007 and 2008) as well as two ITA Indoor National Championships (2006 and 2007).
The Bulldogs are coming off a 5-2 win over Georgia Tech and are set to also compete in the ITA National Indoor Tournament.
ILLINI SET TO HOST THE ITA INDOOR TOURNAMENT
The Illinois men’s tennis team is set to host the ITA National Indoor Tournament for the sixth time in program history.
Because the Illini are hosting, they get an automatic bid to compete with the best of the best in college tennis.
The four-day tournament will take place from Feb. 17-20 with 16 teams, including: Baylor, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State, South Carolina, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, USC, Virginia and Wake Forest.
The Illini have won the tournament twice (2003, 2004) and were the runners-up three times (2002, 1999, 1998).
The Horned Frogs were the 2022 champions, defeating Tennessee in the final round.
Illinois will start the tournament facing off with No. 1 Ohio State at 6 p.m. on Friday night.
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