The University of Illinois Springfield tennis teams travel to Indianapolis this week to compete in the 2019 GLVC Championships. Both programs had their best regular seasons in its NCAA history, and both entered the ITA National Rankings for the first time at the NCAA Division II level. The Prairie Stars will look to make more school history this Friday with a first-round win in their respective conference tournaments.
 
Women's Tournament Preview
The University of Illinois Springfield women's tennis team earned the three-seed out of the East Division, and will face the two-seed out of the West Division, Maryville, in the first-round. The UIS/Maryville match will take place at 9 a.m. (8 a.m. central) on Friday in Indianapolis, Ind.
 
 Earlier this season, UIS defeated Maryville by a 4-3 margin in St. Louis. In doubles, UIS won the No. 1 and No. 2 matches. The No. 1 match will be key to watch as Neha Mokhasi and Ashley Long won by a narrow 7-6 margin, which turned out to be the difference in the contest.
 
In singles play, UIS won at No. 2 with Long, No. 3 with Maegan Flight, and No. 4 with Kena Bere. Flight had the closest match, winning 7-6, 6-4. UIS took the No. 6 singles match into a third-set tiebreak, before a 10-4 setback in that final set.
 
UIS went 13-4 on the season, and has won eight out of its last 10 contests. The Prairie Stars went 3-2 against GLVC division opponents, and were 4-1 against teams from the west division.
 
A pair of freshmen, Mokhasi and Long, fill the top spots for UIS. Mokhasi is 8-8 in singles play on the year, and long is 11-6. The pair is 11-6 together in doubles action.
 
Flight has the top singles record, going 11-5 on the year, most at the No. 3 position. The other regulars in singles are Kena Bere, who is 10-8, Kaitlyn Thornhill, who is 9-6, and Nethra Thenappan, who is 9-4.
 
The other double regulars are Bere and Thenappan, and Flight and Steph Reynolds. Bere and Thenappan are 6-5, while Flight and Reynolds are 8-5.
 
The winner of Friday's match will take on the winner of the Indianapolis and Rockhurst contest on Saturday at 9 a.m. The championship match is on Sunday at 9 a.m.
 
UIS will be making its third all-time appearance in the GLVC Tournament, with each one coming in the last three years. The Prairie Stars fell to Missouri-St. Louis in 2017 and 2018 by scores of 5-0 and 5-3, respectively.
 
Men's Tournament Preview
The University of Illinois Springfield men's tennis team also earned the three-seed out of the East Division, and will face the two-seed out of the West Division, Missouri-St. Louis, in the first-round. The UIS/Missouri-St. Louis match will take place at 1 p.m. (12 p.m. central) on Friday in Indianapolis, Ind.
 
UIS and Missouri-St. Louis did not meet in the regular season, with the scheduled match being cancelled due to the weather.
 
UIS went 13-4 on the season, and has won nine out of its last 11 contests. The Prairie Stars went 3-2 against GLVC division opponents, and were 4-1 against teams from the west division.
 
Sam Clarke, the top men's tennis player in the program's NCAA era, is the team leader going into the conference tournament. The school's leader in all-time wins is 19-3 this year in singles play. Six other players have double-digit wins in singles play. The team's other senior, Logan Burgess Hayes, is 10-12 on the season, and has played the most at No. 2 singles. Tommy Martinez is 14-8, Alex Chan is 17-5, Oscar Toro is 17-5, Menno Servaes is 10-1, and Matthew Lapsley is 11-7.
 
In doubles, Clarke and Martinez are the No. 1 team, and they are 13-8 together. Burgess Hayes is 10-2 on the year with Servaes, and has won twice with Lapsley as his partner. The duo of Chan and Toro are 10-6 together and they occupy the No. 3 spot.
 
The winner of Friday's match will take on the winner of the Indianapolis and Rockhurst contest on Saturday at 1 p.m. The championship match is on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
UIS is making its second appearance all-time in the GLVC Tournament, and the first since the 2011 championship. The Prairie Stars lost in the first-round that year to Northern Kentucky by a 5-1 margin.