IU kicks off Big Ten season with Wisconsin

The IU women’s tennis team had a successful run through its nonconference schedule, tallying a 9-3 record and a No. 30 national ranking. But the Hoosiers’ season really begins Saturday at 10 a.m. at the IU Tennis Center when they face the Wisconsin Badgers to start Big Ten play.\n“The more practice with better teams, the better we’ll be for (the Big Ten schedule),” junior Brianna Williams said before IU’s 6-1 rout of then-No. 59 Kansas on Jan. 20. \nThe Hoosiers have certainly seen their share of quality teams so far this season. \nIncluding Kansas, IU has defeated two ranked opponents. Also, Western Michigan, which lost in Bloomington on the opening weekend of the Hoosiers’ season, has maintained a spot in the national rankings since that time. \nAll three of IU’s losses have come to ranked opponents as well, with each of these teams currently residing within the nation’s top 25. But while those matches were all great learning experiences and resume boosters for the year-ending NCAA tournament, the team’s top priorities for the regular season, Williams said, are always conference oriented.\n“It’s always a goal to be the best in the conference,” she said.\nIU coach Lin Loring has achieved that goal many times during his 29-plus seasons with the team. With 16 conference titles, he averages a Big Ten crown about every other year. \nBut senior Cecile Perton said Loring and his coaching staff don’t let the importance of conference play affect the players.\n“They don’t put pressure on us,” she said. “But you can tell it’s more important than the rest of the season, maybe.”\nThis year’s “rest of the season” has been good for the Hoosiers. \nThey started by winning their first eight matches for the first time since the 2002 campaign. That year, IU dropped its Big Ten opener. \nLoring said that a team’s schedule determines whether or not those types of trends continue, but the loss in 2002’s conference opener came against Wisconsin at IU – the same school and venue that’s on IU’s schedule this year. \nHowever, this year, the Badgers, with their 3-6 record on the season, doesn’t stack up to the No. 33-ranked squad that topped IU five years ago. Despite Wisconsin’s current stretch of one win in its last seven matches, Loring said the team is unpredictable, yet still dangerous.\n“The big question mark is who’s healthy and who’s in lineup,” he said. “If they have everyone in the lineup, it’s going to be a really good match.”\nLoring added that the Badgers are going to be as healthy as they’re going to get, considering that they’ve had the past two weeks to rest. The weekend that the Badgers last played, IU was scheduled to host Wake Forest. That match was postponed due to bad weather. \nWith no match originally scheduled for this Sunday, that date was targeted for the makeup. Instead, Wake Forest was unable to make the trip, so Indiana State will come to Bloomington on Sunday for a 10:30 a.m. match to fill the vacancy. As one of five teams sharing the final spot in the national rankings, the No. 75 Sycamores will be IU’s sixth ranked opponent so far this season which, according to Williams, will be beneficial for the Hoosiers as they head into conference play.\n“I think it will definitely be good practice,” she said. “It was a little unexpected ... but we’re still going to give it our all.”