The Marquette men's tennis team opened the spring season Saturday with 7-0 shutouts over Illinois-Chicago and IUPUI.

Coach Steve Rodecap said the matches should help the team prepare for the rest of the season.

"With these two matches, I think it was good to get out of practice (mode) and into competition mode," Rodecap said.

A highlight of the day was a 7-6, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles for Marquette senior Trent Hagan over Illinois-Chicago's Bastian Harbo.

A key turning point in the match was a solid cross-court drop volley from Hagan in the tie-breaker of the first match. Hagan said it's a shot he's been working on.

"I've been working pretty hard on my volleys," Hagan said. "It's a part of my game I've been struggling with a lot lately. I was pretty happy with the way I was volleying in that match."