Their season opens today at the Redbird Classic at Illinois State in Bloomington/Normal.

Coach Dick LeFevre said he thinks his team is a strong competitor. The final results depend on how well the new players fend.

We should do reasonably well, LeFevre said. We have three guys that have never played. A lot depends on how well they do in the tournament.

The tournament is flighted which means all the No. 1 players from each school will play in one division, all the No. 2 players will play in the another division and so on. The team will compete in six singles matches and three doubles.

LeFevre said junior Tim Derouin, who played the No. 4 position last season, will play in Flight 1. Jay Merchant, who was last season’s No. 3 player, will play in Flight 2 singles, and freshman Altaf Merchant of Bombay, India, who was the number one ranked junior in India will play the No. 3 position.

Freshman Uwe Classen of Herzogenrath, Germany, Kai Kramer, who was named all-conference in flight six singles last year, and freshman Patrick Greathouse will fill the remaining three slots.

Derouin and Classen will team up to play in flight one doubles, the two Merchants will play in flight 2 doubles and Kramer and Greathouse will compete in the third slot.

LeFevre said the team has a good chance of winning flights two, three and four. There is always fierce competition in the No. 1 division, so Derouin will have a tough time, he said.

All four of my top players are very competitive, LeFevre said. We’ve lost our No. 1 and No. 2 players from last season, so the new top players will have to play stronger.

LeFevre said the biggest competitors in the tournament are the hosts Illinois State, Western Illinois and DePaul University.