KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's tennis team's quest for the program's 29th regular season Mid-American Conference Championship begins this weekend as the Broncos host Illinois-Chicago on Friday at 1 p.m. and Northern Illinois on Sunday at 12 p.m.
 
Due to expected cold weather, both matches will be played indoors at West Hills Athletic Club. Admission is free. Live scoring for both matches is available at www.wmustats.com.
 
The Broncos head into MAC play after a bye week. In previous action, WMU picked up a pair of wins against DePaul and Navy on the road in Chicago. Both wins were 5-2, extending the team's winning streak to six matches.
 
ON A HEATER
Three Broncos head into MAC play on big individual winning streaks. Junior Anton Arzhankin has won six straight and has a 10-1 record in dual matches so far this season. Freshman Matej Kajzer also has a six-match winning streak, doing most of his damage at No. 5 singles. Kajzer has a 7-3 record in dual matches so far. Classmate Asheton Adesoro has the longest streak for the Broncos, coming into Friday's tilt against UIC having won his last seven. Adesoro is 8-1 overall in dual matches, including a 7-0 record at No. 4 singles.
 
SCOUTING THE FLAMES
Friday's match is an historic one, with it being the first ever Mid-American Conference match for Illinois-Chicago. UIC joined the MAC as an affiliate member in the summer after Binghamton departed.
 
The Flames head into Friday on a five-match winning streak, with their last loss coming back on Feb. 4 at Northwestern. Aleksa Bucan is 8-2 in dual matches and 7-2 at No. 2, while Edoardo Bottino and and Robinson Lemeur each have seven wins. UIC's top doubles pair is Randy Wilson and MIhailo Savic, with a 4-2 record all at No. 1.
 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Northern Illinois (10-2) opens MAC play at Ball State on Friday before traveling to Kalamazoo for Sunday's match. The Huskies are also on tear, having won their last eight matches. Their last loss came at home against Drake back on Jan. 19.
 
Mikael Vollbach is 9-3 in singles dual matches, with seven of the wins coming at No. 2. Cheng En Tsai is 8-2 overall with a 7-2 record at No. 1. Cheng and Vollbach make up the team's winningest doubles pair, with a 7-4 record all at No. 1.
 
ON THE ROAD
Western Michigan heads on the road for the first time in MAC play next week, traveling to Ball State on Friday and Toledo on Sunday.