Chicago, Ill. - The Illinois Tech men's tennis team kicks off their 2025 season this Sunday with a pair of matches at the XS Tennis Center, including their season-opener against defending NCAA Division III champion and the number one ranked University of Chicago Maroons at noon.

Head Coach Kris Powell knows opening against the reigning champions and number one ranked team is a tall task, but he also likes the challenge the match poses for his young team.

"I'm looking for overall heart and hard work," said Powell. "And I want to see them trying to problem solve. I'm testing attitude and drive. The  goal is to get them to see: this is where we want to be. Winning is the goal of course, but the lessons are in the losses. Not to say that we were going to lose. But I want them to know that, as the first match of the season, we mean business, and we'll take it to anyone - it doesn't matter their ranking, doesn't matter what they did in the past. This is the standard" Powell said. 

For Powell and the Scarlet Hawks, this season represents a significant transition, with four seniors who were a part of three conference-winning teams and multiple NCAA berths departed. Included in that group are former Northern Collegiate Conference (NACC) Players of the Year in Alann Torres (2024) and Davis Housman (2022), former NACC Freshman of the Year in Nabil Fawaz (2021) and four-time all-conference player Jordan Lauer. Despite the significant turnover, Powell doesn't want to lower expectations for his team.

"The expectation is always to win, and is always to dominate in the NACC," said Powell. "It will be harder this year. But I look forward to the challenge, and I think this will mean a great deal to win this year, because those four guys (Torres, Housman, Fawaz and Lauer) were recruits before I got here. This is my set of recruits, it's a full group that I've recruited, and it it would mean a lot to win this one for sure. So we're ready to lay it all out on the line" Powell said.

The Scarlet Hawks will field a roster of eight players, including three returners in sophomores Pol Dueso Guell and Eduardo Lopez, and graduate student Avneet Singh. Joining the group are four freshmen in Alexander Feher, Grant Pennock, Tejas Sheth, and Hozumi Tada, along with junior transfer Pedro Caroa-Accino Roca.

Powell likes the versatility of his young team.

"They can do it all," said Powell. "It's just when they should do it. It's a talented group. Were more all-court. They can do their aggressive baselines. They're not shy at the net. They can place their serves a lot better, more variety on the serves. We just have to put it all together and be mentally stronger and mature on the court. So that's the part where I have to do some work with them on the mentoring side and the maturity side. So that will be the test this year with them" Powell said.

Although the team doesn't have a regular season match under their belts, Powell was asked for a team identity at this early stage.

"I would say energy, and that they're not afraid to yell and (generate) excitement," Powell said. "They're not afraid to give energy to their their teammates. I would say they're selfless. And that's a good sign. We saw that from the practices that we've already had this year. They really care. They want to do well" said Powell.

Powell noted while he expects good results from singles play, the area for development, as in most seasons, will be doubles play, and determining the correct pairings. But he anticipates that portion of the team's game to elevate as the season goes along.

As for the competition in the NACC this season, Powell knows there will be some stiff competition.

"MSOE got considerably stronger" said Powell. "We lost a couple of recruits to them. CUW (Concordia Wisconsin) is always a rival. I know their coach pretty well (head coach Steve Anschutz), and I know he's going to be gunning for us, too. St. Norbert is a team to watch out for. He's (head coach John Steckart) been getting more and more tougher recruits, and so they are going to be more of a dark horse. Those two (CUW and St. Norbert) are going to be dark horses for sure"

While the goal for the team is always to win the conference and make the NCAA tournament, Powell feels the team is excited for the season and wants to raise the bar. Powell even cited the success of the women's soccer team as a template for what the men's tennis team should strive for.

"Getting to the second round of NCAA (tournament) is great and all. But I feel like we've always felt like we can't pass the second round," Powell said. "But with women's soccer reaching the heights that they reached during the tournament, that's kind of reinvigorated us. I'm sure the whole athletics department is feeling like, "okay, it's possible to go even further" and that's exciting. So it's breathing some new energy and some new motivation for us. So we we're pretty thankful for what women's soccer has done. And we're hoping to do something similar or maybe even better. So I like how we're all pulling each other forward. That's what we're looking for, that's what I would say from a from a mentality and emotional standpoint that's where we're at" said Powell.

In addition to the Scarlet Hawks season-opening match against University of Chicago on Sunday, January 26th at noon at the XS Tennis Center, the Scarlet Hawks will take on Lake Forest College later in the evening at XS Tennis Center at 5:00pm.