Around Sports

Men’s Tennis
Team hopes to revive season at No. 15 Louisville

After Wednesday’s 6-1 loss to No. 19 Louisville, No. 45 IU will look to regroup against rival Purdue.

The Hoosiers will take on the Boilermakers at noon Saturday at the IU Tennis Center.

“It’s an opportunity to represent your school and go after it and do all you can,” senior Peter Antons said.

While Purdue is 1-6 against ranked opponents, the Hoosiers (10-8, 2-0) have only won three games against ranked teams. Such teams account for all their losses.

Purdue brings one ranked singles player, No. 116 Slavko Bijelica. Sophomore Lachlan Ferguson has defeated four ranked opponents this season.

– By Stephanie Kuzydym

Softball
Anderson tallies first hit in win

IU freshman Molly Anderson’s first hit of the year came Thursday on a walk-off RBI that cemented a 5-4 victory against Indiana State.

The Hoosiers (4-22, 0-2) won their first home game of the season against the Sycamores (8-13, 2-0), breaking a three-game losing streak. It also marked the team’s first extra-innings game this season.

“I was just excited to have the opportunity,” Anderson said.

The freshman came into the game in the fifth inning at first base to replace senior Ashley Hobbs. Anderson got the job done with a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the fifth to move the runner over.

“I know what I need to do in each situation,” Anderson said.

Another key at-bat in the game came when Anderson was able to shorten up on an 0-2 count and ground out to the second baseman, moving freshman Bridget Langan from third base to second, leading to the tying run and forcing the game to extra innings.

The Sycamores were able to score a run in the top of the eighth off sophomore pitcher Sara Olsen, who was able to get the complete game win. After the Hoosiers tied it up in the bottom half of the inning at 4-4, Anderson stepped up to the plate with two outs and the winning run on third.

Anderson pushed the count to 2-2, then got the pitch for which she was looking. Anderson hit a liner up the middle past the ISU second baseman to give the Hoosiers the win in dramatic fashion.

The victory could give the Hoosiers the momentum they’ve been looking for heading into Saturday’s Big Ten showdown against Wisconsin.

 – By Connor O’Gara

Women’s Golf
Hoosiers set for Arizona tournament

After rising from the bottom of the pack to a third-place finish in the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational, the IU women’s golf team is craving a victory. And if past results are any indication, it might get that this weekend.

The Hoosiers will play in the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz. IU won the tournament title last year, and the team has produced an individual winner two years in a row. 

Junior Laura Nochta might be the best chance for another individual win. Nochta, who finished fourth at last year’s Mountain View Collegiate, led the team in its last tournament with a sixth-place finish. 

“We knew what we were capable of pulling off, and we ended up shooting the low round of the day,” Nochta said in her tournament blog. “We always say one of our goals is to win the day, and that round, we did.”

Nochta also won the individual title in the Lady Puerto Rico Classic in February, earning her a share of the Big Ten Golfer of the Week.

The Hoosiers will also be looking for strong input from the rest of their lineup. In the last tournament, Nochta joined juniors Kellye Belcher and Anita Gahir and senior Amber Lindgren in the top 25 individual scores.

– By Ryan Winn

Track and Field
Team begins outdoor season in Alabama this weekend

Moving outdoors is a big sign spring is here.

This is the case for the track and field team when it makes the transition from the indoor season to the outdoor season Friday through Sunday at the Alabama Relays.

IU coach Ron Helmer said the move outside is not a big deal.

“Moving outdoors is an extension of the indoor season, and the goal is still to have well-prepared athletes every week,” Helmer said.

A couple of changes will occur for the outdoor season in terms of player participation. Senior pole vaulter Jeff Coover, who finished fourth nationally in the indoor season, will join sophomore distance runners Cole Hardacre, Ben Hubers and Andy Weatherford in redshirting for the outdoor season.

All-American senior sprinter and jumper Kiwan Lawson will return to competition, joining distance runners freshman Andy Bayer and senior Brennon Plotner. The trio redshirted during the indoor season, but will compete during the outdoor season.

Junior pole vaulter Vera Neuenswander, who finished sixth and scored an All-American award at the indoor championships, said she is ready to continue contending whether it is indoor or outdoor.

“It comes down to competing every time I go out there,” Neuenswander said. “We have had good practices, and it comes down to competing hard every day.”
     
 – By Ari Shifron

Water Polo
King’s crewfinally comes to home pool

For the sixth time this season, the IU water polo team will be playing in a new pool. 
But for the first time, that pool is their own. 

IU coach Barry King said the team is ready to finally play at home, but it might be more difficult than playing on the road.

“We’re so practiced at playing on the road that sometimes playing at home offers some distractions that we’re not quite used to,” King said. “Sometimes it can actually work against us.” 

The No. 18 Hoosiers host the Fluid Four this weekend at the Student Recreational Sports Center. They play Sonoma State at noon and conference rival No. 14 Michigan at 7 p.m., both on Saturday.

They will finish the weekend against Maryland at noon Sunday.
 
King said that this weekend’s games are crucial because of the impact they could have on the Hoosiers’ conference hopes. 

“They’re incredibly important,” he said. “The Michigan game clearly has conference ramifications as far as winning our division and completing our list of goals, such as winning the division, (to) win the conference.”

– By Andrew Wyder

Swimming and Diving
Swimmers compete for individual honors

The IU swimming program will make its transition from the short-yardage winter season to the long-meter summer season this weekend as 17 men and three women compete in the USA Swimming Speedo Champions Series Central Sectional Meet in Indianapolis.

“For the Hoosiers, this is a pre-event to the World Championship trials, so it’s like a dress rehearsal,” assistant coach Pam Swander said. “It’s a shave-and-taper meet for our team that has the best shot at making cuts to attend the World Championship trials, so it’s a really good dry run in preparation for that meet.”

The four-day meet begins Friday and includes 550 swimmers from the 11 states that comprise the USA Swimming Central Sectional. Swimmers participating in this weekend’s sectional meet attempt to qualify for the World Championship trials this summer.

“It’s more of an individual approach to the sport, and it’s about ranking and qualifying for a bigger event that will be held later in the season,” Swander said.

The team’s goals go beyond individual success, said junior Aaron Opell,  He said the sectional meet will be key in preparing young swimmers for big meets in the future.

“We have a lot of talent on this team, especially in the younger classes,” Opell said. “What we mainly want to focus on is toughening them up. Not putting into account that they’re underclassmen, we’re going to expect the most out of them.”

Swander agrees, particularly on the men’s side of the competition.

“We are heavier on the underclassmen side,” she said. “The more opportunity they get to compete at a higher level, the more we are going to be able to prepare them for that ‘in your face’ competition of men’s Big Tens and men’s NCAAs.”

The women’s team will send only three swimmers to the sectional meet because of the Hoosiers’ qualifying a record 13 swimmers and three divers at last week’s women’s NCAA Championships. The men are represented this weekend in the men’s NCAA Championships by three swimmers and two divers.

None of the NCAA qualifiers will participate in this weekend’s sectional meet.

– By Kevin Loughery

Women’s Tennis
Tennis shut out against Irish, 7-0 at home

All luck went in favor of the Irish Thursday in a 7-0 victory. The Hoosiers were unable to walk away with a win in singles or doubles, losing all nine matches.

“I was just really pleased we got to play outside because that’s what we needed,” IU coach Lin Loring said. “We knew it was going to be really tough. They’re ranked (No. 3) in the nation – plus, it was their fifth outdoor match.”

Trying out new doubles combinations, sophomores Katya Zapadalova and Maria Guerreiro quickly dropped their match to the No. 3 doubles team 8-1. Senior Sigrid Fischer and sophomore Charlotte Martin lost their match by the same score.

IU’s No. 3 doubles tandem of sophomore Myriam Sopel and junior Lindsey Stuckey came the closest to defeating Notre Dame, losing 8-6.

“We experimented with a bunch of doubles, and overall I was pleased with the way we played,” Loring said. “The scores don’t necessarily indicate that.”

The cream and crimson dropped their first five singles matches to the blue and gold in straight sets.

Although Zapadalova picked up three games against the Irish’s No. 33 Kelsey Tefft, Zapadalova did not give the other 12 games away. Zapadalova’s match was the second-to-last one to finish. After losing the first set, Sopel pulled away with the second set but eventually lost, 4-6, 7-5, 7-10.

The loss is the Hoosiers’ seventh of the season and drops their record to 9-7.

“We just really had to play somebody outside to get us ready for the rest of the season,” Loring said. “We saw a lot of good things in the doubles, and it gives us a good idea for the combinations. It gave us some ideas for different options.”

– By Stephanie Kuzydym

Women’s Tennis
No. 35 Hoosiers hope to knock Boilermakers off track

The No. 35 Hoosiers might have to play on the Boilermaker tracks, but they’re hoping to derail the black and gold.

“We always want to beat Purdue, obviously,” senior Stephanie Heller said. “It’s never going to change that Purdue is definitely one of our big rivals.”

IU will compete against Purdue at noon Saturday on the road.

After straight losses to the No. 1 and No. 3 nationally ranked teams, a non-ranked Big Ten opponent will be a change for the No. 35 women’s squad. The cream and crimson will travel to West Lafayette in hopes of their first win in two weeks.

“You can’t ask for anything better going into a Big Ten match then playing some of the best teams in the country and to go out there against Purdue,” Heller said.

The Hoosiers and Boilermakers have met four times in the past three years. IU has walked away with a 4-3 decision in the last two matches.

“All Big Ten matches are competitive, whether it’s Purdue, Iowa, Michigan (or) Michigan State,” Heller said. “They’re all competitive, so when we go out there for a Big Ten we want to win.”

– By Stephanie Kuzydym