The Iowa men’s tennis team will return to the road this weekend and continue Big Ten play after a successful two-meet home stint last week.

The No. 60 Hawkeyes (10-5, 2-2 Big Ten) will face No. 41 Indiana in Bloomington, Ind., on Saturday and No. 13 Illinois in Champaign, Ill., on April 10.

Both Indiana (11-5, 2-2) and Illinois (12-8, 4-0) have defended their home courts well this year, combining to go 12-2 on their campuses.

Although Iowa is 3-4 on the road, senior Tommy McGeorge said he thinks the Hawkeyes have a good chance to earn at least one victory over the weekend.

“It’ll be tough to be on courts we’re not familiar with, but I think beating Penn State on Sunday gave us some momentum,” he said.

The Hoosiers are led by a core of young players that includes freshmen Isade Juneau and Josh MacTaggart. Both have won at least 10 singles matches, anchoring the middle of Indiana’s lineup while contributing to the team’s .691 winning percentage.

Juneau will face McGeorge in the No. 5 slot, and MacTaggart will play either Nikita Zotov in No. 2 or Reinoud Haal at No. 3.

The Fighting Illini feature three nationally ranked singles players. No. 35 Dennis Nevelo will face Hawkeye Marc Bruche at No. 1 singles, No. 57 senior Marek Czerwinski will play either Zotov or Haal, and No. 85 junior Abe Souza will likely square off against Haal or Will Vasos.

“The Big Ten is tough,” McGeorge said. “Every match is a battle.”

— by Seth Roberts