The University of Illinois men's tennis team has the No. 5 ranking in the nation, but Ball State University senior Joe Epkey isn't intimidated.
After losing their last two matches, the No. 69 Cardinals (1-2) will play Illinois (1-0) Friday in Carmel. Illinois is currently the highest ranked opponent on Ball State's schedule this season.
"We're going in to win," Epkey said. "Anything but a win will be disappointing."
Epkey is coming off his first loss of the season in both singles and doubles play.
However, those matches will not carry into the Illinois match, and Ball State must play fundamentally sound to pull off an upset, Epkey said.
Coach Bill Richards said the Cardinals will focus more on individual performances than team performance to win the match.
"I think we're a better team than we've shown so far," Richards said. "We just want to try to prove something against Illinois. We just need to play at a high level and see what happens."
The Fighting Illini opened their season with a 4-3 win against No. 10 Pepperdine University, the defending national champions.
The last time Illinois finished outside the top 10 in the final national team rankings was in 2001 when they finished No. 12. Since then, they have finished No. 4, No. 1, No. 2, No. 6 and No. 9, the No. 1 finish being a national championship in 2003.
"They've been one of the most dominating teams in college tennis over the last six years," Richards said. "We have our work cut out for us."
The Illinois roster includes three of the top 100 singles players in the nation and two of the top 50 doubles teams in the nation, including the defending national championship doubles team, juniors Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe.
Anderson and Rowe are the No. 42 ranked doubles team in the nation. Anderson is also ranked No. 19 in the nation in doubles with sophomore Marc Spicijaric.
In the first match of the season, Anderson competed with junior Ruben Gonzales in doubles.
Epkey and his brother Jarrod Epkey do not know what Illinois team they will play against in doubles. However, they are ready for any team, Joe Epkey said.
"I'm really anxious and excited," Epkey said. "We haven't played our best. If we both play our best I believe we can beat anybody in the country."
In addition to being ranked in doubles, in singles play Rowe is ranked No. 11, Anderson No. 23 and Spicijaric No. 83. The Cardinals do not have any players ranked nationally in singles or doubles.
Illinois coach Brad Dancer proposed the idea of playing in Carmel, and both coaches thought it would give the programs more exposure in the Indianapolis area, Richards said.
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