Team hopes for revenge

The Hoosiers (9-16, 1-9 Big Ten) will face the Michigan Wolverines (12-8, 5-5) in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, starting at 1 p.m. today at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill. \nThe Hoosiers faced the Wolverines on April 6 but lost 5-2. IU won the top two doubles matches but won only one out of the six singles spots. The team comes into the Big Ten tournament ranked tenth and Michigan comes in ranked seventh. The last time IU faced Michigan in the Big Ten championship was in the finals in 1998 when the Hoosiers defeated the Wolverines 5-0. \nThe team hoped to peak going into the tournament but dropped two matches last weekend as they lost Saturday to Illinois and Sunday to Purdue. But, Coach Lin Loring said playing last weekend at Illinois in a regular season match should help the Hoosiers because they are familiar with the courts. \n"Illinois and Purdue were tough opponents," freshman Sarah Batty said."But we still had a lot of close matches and showed a lot of good effort."\nInjuries have been a problem all season, and Batty has been the only Hoosier to stay healthy enough to play in each match. Senior Karie Schlukebir will not be playing this weekend due to cancer treatments, which will hurt the Hoosiers in doubles play. Schlukebir teamed this year with junior Linda Tran and has a 17-7, 5-3 Big Ten record. \nLoring said he does not think Schlukebir's absence will affect the team greatly because she has already missed much of the season.\n"We have played half of the season without her," Loring said. "So we are prepared to play in the tournament without her." \nBut it's Schlukebir's leadership that will be missed the most on the court.\n"Having Karie playing always makes a difference," freshman Sophie Rychlik said. "She is the team captain and not only her game but also her presence lifts up the team."\nThe Hoosiers are 53-8 all-time in the Big Ten tournament, and have taken the title 14 times.\nDespite the Hoosiers' disappointing season, Loring said he hopes to continue to see improvement but said Michigan will once again be a challenge. \n"You never know what is going to happen," Batty said. "The Big Ten has had some very surprising results in some matches, so who knows what will happen." \nIf IU defeats Michigan, it will then take on second seed Northwestern at 1 p.m. Friday.