Men's tennis set for rematch with No. 38 Wolverines

The No. 59 IU men's tennis team will make their trek to Minnesota this weekend to face a familiar foe. The Hoosiers will compete against No. 38 Michigan at the Big Ten Championships, the teams' second matchup in as many weeks. Michigan pulled out a close 4-3 victory with a win at the No. 6 singles position in a match that lasted four hours and 45 minutes. \nBut for the Hoosiers this time around, it's a whole new ball game.\n"Losing that match (to Michigan last week) hurt badly," said IU head coach Ken Hydinger. "You come off that match saying 'Man, I wish I could've done this thing or that thing.' But now we have another chance less than a week later, so it feels great."\nThe No. 5 seed Hoosiers will play the No. 4 seed Michigan today at 11 a.m. at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis. IU enters the weekend with an overall record of 16-9 and a Big Ten mark of 5-5. The Wolverines begin Friday with a 12-10 overall mark and a 6-4 Big Ten record. Michigan leads the all-time series 48-13. \n"I don't think seeding matters much," said senior captain Neil Kenner. "But I think it's nice to get a second chance against a team we barely lost to."\nThe Hoosiers finished in a tie for fifth in the conference standings with Penn State and Northwestern. IU was rewarded the fifth seed because of their edge in the tiebreaker. The Hoosiers have a combined nine points in the matches against the Nittany Lions and Wildcats. IU won at then-No. 39 Penn State, 6-1, on March 24 before falling to then-No. 59 Northwestern, 4-3, at the IU Tennis Center on April 2. Penn State defeated Northwestern in University Park, Penn., 6-1, on March 31. \n"We have developed and improved as the season has gone along," Hydinger said. "This is another opportunity for us, and we are looking forward to competing in the Big Ten Championship."\nIn the 4-3 loss to Michigan in Bloomington last Sunday, five out of the six singles matches went to three sets. The singles matches were split three a piece, with Kenner winning the only straight-set match at the No. 4 singles spot. Despite a strong effort at the No. 6 position, junior Arnaud Roussel dropped a tough match ending the Hoosiers' brief winning streak. \nEmphasis, however, has been on the doubles this past week. \n"They won the doubles point last time, and it won the match," said sophomore Michael McCarthy, who teamed with Kenner at the No. 3 doubles spot lost 8-3 against Michigan last time. "We worked a lot on doubles in preparation for the match. But it's a good chance for us. Usually you don't get an opportunity to get revenge the next week. And we're gunning for them and we're going to beat them this time."\nOhio State is the top seed at the Big Tens after winning the regular season title with a perfect 10-0 record. The Buckeyes will face the winner of No. 8 Wisconsin and No. 9 Purdue. The winner of Michigan/IU will face the winner of that match in the first semifinal of the championship on Saturday.