No. 14 Tennessee (4-1) defeated Illinois (0-1), 4-2, on Saturday at Goodfriend Tennis Center in the ITA Kickoff Weekend. Alejandro Moreno earned a win for Tennessee with a, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, victory on court five.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - The No. 14 Tennessee men’s tennis team defeated Illinois, 4-2, Saturday afternoon in the opening round of ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Vols dropped the doubles point, but the singles part of the match was filled with some intense competition.

Tennessee dropped the point in doubles to start the afternoon, but came back to win four points in singles. The Vols saw Jan Kobierski and Alan Jesudason step up when they were down early in doubles, but Tennessee lost two close matches to give Illinois the point.

The Vols likely would catapult onto the No. 1 seed line with a win at Auburn, but it would carry weight beyond the immediate effect on bracketology. A win at Auburn would give Tennessee two marquee road wins on its NCAA Tournament profile come Selection Sunday. The other was a 66-64 win at Illinois On dec. 14.

Thursday's OVC slate includes the Tennessee State Tigers (9-12, 5-5 OVC) meeting the Western Illinois Leathernecks (8-12, 2-7 OVC) at 8:00 PM ET on ESPN+. Advertisement Article continues below ...

BOTTOM LINE: Eastern Illinois aims to end its four-game losing streak with a victory against Tennessee State. The Tigers have gone 5-3 in home games. Tennessee State is 3-2 when it turns the ball ...

Tennessee faces Auburn. Our college basketball odds series has our Tennessee Auburn prediction, odds and pick for Saturday.

BOTTOM LINE: Tennessee State hosts Eastern Illinois after Aaniya Webb scored 20 points in Tennessee State's 76-70 loss to the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars. The Tigers are 3-3 in home games.

Tennessee will host Michigan on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in the ITA Kickoff Weekend championship match. The Vols and the No. 25 Wolverines will have a lot on the line for this match, which includes a spot into the Indoor National Championships later this season.

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The Eastern Illinois Panthers (5-12, 1-5 OVC) will attempt to break a nine-game road slide when they square off against the Tennessee State Tigers (6-12, 2-5 OVC) on Saturday, January 18 ...

Jacobi 6-12 0-0 14, Kalle 1-3 2-2 4, Fruster 8-15 0-0 18, Shelton 1-6 0-1 2, Stapleton 4-9 6-10 14, Sawyer 1-5 4-4 6, Curtis 3-8 0-1 6, Connor 0-2 0-0 0, Bolis 0-1 0-0 0, Prost 0-0 1-2 1, McMorris 0-0 0-0 0, O'Connor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 13-20 65.