Hoosiers prepare for Big Ten Championships

Earlier this spring, when asked where he thought his Hoosier squad stood in the Big Ten, coach Randy Bloemendaal said he saw his team falling somewhere in the “middle of the pack.”\nTen conference matches and five Big Ten wins later, the No. 37 IU men’s tennis team (15-8, 5-5) enters the Big Ten Championships as the No. 6 seed. With 11 teams in the Big Ten, the No. 6 seed certainly qualifies as “middle of the pack.” \n“With a few wins in the Big Ten tournament we could be on our way to an NCAA berth,” Bloemendaal said.\nThe Hoosiers were just one spot away from a first-round bye. Sunday’s 5-2 loss to Penn State determined the No. 5 seed as both the Hoosiers and the Nittany Lions entered the match with 5-4 records in conference play. \n“Getting on top of your opponent early is crucial,” freshman Lachlan Ferguson said after Sunday’s match. Ferguson was the only Hoosier to earn a point in singles play against Penn State. \nThe tournament boasts seven teams ranked in the top 55 nationally, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. No. 2 Ohio State is the No. 1 seed in the tournament, followed by No. 34 Wisconsin, No. 15 Illinois, No. 17 Michigan and No. 40 Penn State. No. 55 Iowa fell to the No. 8 seed in the tournament with a 4-6 conference record. \nThe conference championship, hosted by Iowa, begins Thursday morning and will finish on Sunday with the final match set for noon. The \nHoosiers begin play at 1 p.m. Thursday and face the No. 11 seed Northwestern Wildcats. \nIU hosted the Wildcats on April 6 in Bloomington for the teams’ only contest of the season. The Hoosiers took five of six singles matches that day to earn a 5-2 victory against the only team in the Big Ten to go winless in conference play. \nThe Hoosiers hold a slight advantage in the all-time series against the Wildcats, 36-35.\nIf the Hoosiers win on Thursday, they will play the No. 3 seed Fighting Illini (16-7, 8-2). That match is scheduled to begin 3 p.m. Friday. \nThe Hoosiers would love to take another shot at Illinois, a team they considered to be on their level, said freshman Phillip Eilers. \n“We’ve just got to win,” Eilers said. “Coach has us practicing to be a winning team.”