As the 2007-2008 Illinois Men’s Tennis team prepares to take to the nets, their main focus is to gain more success in the upcoming season than they did last season. However, due to their monumental performance last season, this task goal may not be as easy to reach as it seems. The team has much to live up to finishing their 2006-2007 season with an overall record of twenty-tree wins and only nine losses along with becoming the 2007 NCAA Runners-up. As head coach Brad Dancer along with his assistant Kent Kinnear return for their third season on the Fighting Illini coaching staff they can only hope that this intensity carries into next season. Fortunately, the team will return most of their players, losing only one senior, GD Jones.

While the entire team achieved great success last season, the key player to keep eyes on is returning senior Kevin Anderson from Johannesburg, South Africa. Not only did Anderson finish this past season with a singles record of thirty-two wins and only eight losses, he, along with his doubles partner Ryan Rowe, went on to take second in the NCAA tournament and finish with an incredible record of twenty-three wins, and a mere six losses. Fighting Illini Tennis, along with the Net Nuts have high expectations for what next season holds.

Spend some time cheering on the Illini Tennis. Be the loudest team and the pizza prize is yours.

Some cheering tips:

• College tennis is NOTHING like tennis you are accustomed to. The louder the better!
• Someone started the “left, right, left” cheer from basketball games GREAT JOB!
• Go onto the court when a match finishes. You can then stand on that court to get closer to the action.
• Since you can’t call the enemy by their real name, use a girl’s name (ie Sally)