Sangamon Sun

The Grinnell College men's tennis team has been selected as the favorite to win the Midwest Conference (MWC) in the 2024 preseason coaches' poll. The announcement was made on Wednesday morning, with Grinnell securing 36 total points and six first-place votes. This comes as no surprise, given their impressive track record of winning the last 18 MWC championship titles. The team is also ranked 36th nationally in NCAA Division III by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

Lake Forest College took second place in the poll with 31 points and received the remaining first-place vote. Last year, Lake Forest finished second both in the regular season standings and in the team tournament.

Cornell College came in third with 26 points, followed by Lawrence University at fourth place with 18 points. Ripon College was placed fifth with 17 points.

Illinois College was picked for sixth place with a total of 13 points, while Monmouth College rounded out the list at seventh place with six points.

The upcoming regular season will see four of these seven teams competing in non-conference matches this Friday through Sunday. The conference play will kick off on Saturday, March 30, when Lawrence faces Ripon.

The Midwest Conference Men's Tennis Team Tournament is scheduled for Friday, April 26, at Nielsen Tennis Center in Madison, Wisconsin. It will feature a single-elimination format where the top four league teams compete for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Additionally, all seven teams will participate in individual singles and doubles tournaments over April 27-28 at Nielsen Tennis Center.