The Midwest Conference released its 2018 Men's Tennis Preseason Coaches Poll on Thursday and Lake Forest College was second in the rankings.
Voting is done by the MWC head men's tennis coaches. Each coach votes for the other eight schools in the league in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (eight points for first, seven for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
The Foresters trailed only defending conference champion Grinnell College in the poll and received a pair of first-place votes.
Sophomore Nick Zazove, the defending conference champion at #3 singles, is the team's top returner. He tied the program record with 25 singles victories last year and reached the semifinals of the MWC Individual Tournaments at #1 doubles. Junior Joe Bove, who was 11-6 in singles and doubles combined in 2017, is the only other returning player on the team.
Under second-year head coach Raquel Allen, Lake Forest will open the spring at Elmhurst College on February 2. The team will open league play against Ripon College on March 24 and will complete its 8-match conference schedule on April 21. The top four teams in the standings will compete in the MWC Tournament at the Nielsen Tennis Center in Madison, Wisconsin, on April 27 and the MWC Individual Tournaments will be played the next two days at the same location.
Lake Forest was 14-11 overall and 6-2 in the conference last year. The Foresters were the runners-up at the MWC Tournament for the third straight season and claimed titles at three different positions during the MWC Individual Tournaments.
| PLACE | TEAM (First Place Votes) | POINTS |
| 1 | Grinnell College (7) | 63 |
| 2 | Lake Forest College (2) | 57 |
| 3 | Cornell College | 49 |
| 4 | Monmouth College | 41 |
| 5 | Lawrence University | 35 |
| 6 | St. Norbert College | 31 |
| 7 | Illinois College | 22 |
| 8t | Knox College | 13 |
| 8t | Ripon College | 13 |