SPRINGFIELD -- Missouri State concludes a 10-match road trip this weekend when the Bears visit Evansville at 1:30 p.m. Friday and Southern Illinois at 1 p.m. Saturday as the Missouri Valley Conference tennis schedule reaches its midway point.

MSU Notables
Missouri State is 6-12 overall and 1-2 in Missouri Valley Conference matches...The Bears are tied with UNI and Drake for fourth in the MVC standings, while six schools own a league record between 2-1 and 1-2, with Wichita State (5-0) and Bradley (0-3) serving as the outliers...MSU's victory at UNI on April 8 was the school's first MVC road win since resuming play in 2015...Freshman Alye Darter won six consecutive matches from Feb. 10-26, including five at the No. 1 singles spot...MSU owns an 11-7 record at No. 5 singles this season - its best mark at any position - spread among three different players...The Bears are 9-4 in their last 13 home matches...Darter (14) and sophomore Phoebe Boeschen (13) rank 1-2 among the Bears in singles wins this season...Boeschen takes a five-match win streak into the weekend.

The Opponents
Evansville is 13-13 overall, 2-2 in MVC matches, and 7-3 at home. The Purple Aces have won 51.6 percent of their singles matches this spring and are 34-38 in doubles play. SIU is 8-11 overall and 2-2 in league play in its final season as a varsity program. The Salukis own dual winning percentages of .415 in singles play and .451 in doubles matches.

The Series
Missouri State is 12-4 all-time against Evansville, including a 7-0 victory in Springfield last season. The Bears are 12-17 versus SIU, losing both meetings since rejoining the league.

Up Next
The Bears finish the regular season by hosting Illinois State at 10 a.m. on April 21 and Bradley at the same time on April 23. The MVC Tournament takes play April 28-30 in Normal, Ill.