Men's Tennis faces off against Harvard

Coach Randy Bloemendaal and his No. 68 ranked IU tennis team will compete in their second consecutive away match against No. 23 Harvard University. The 6-6 Hoosiers will be looking to bounce back from their 5-2 loss to No. 25 Vanderbilt. Last weekend’s loss snapped a five match winning streak for the Hoosiers.

IU is still in search for their first victory away from home as four out of their six losses have come from away or neutral matches. Harvard, on the other hand, has yet to win a home match.

They are 6-4 overall, but lost their only home match against Old Dominion earlier this season. Although IU has yet to win on the road and Harvard is winless at home, the Crimson does have one advantage on paper against the Hoosiers. Harvard competed against Vanderbilt earlier this season winning 4-3, beating a team IU was unable to conquer. However, this fact does not rattle Bloemendaal coming into this competition.

“Both programs are very well coached, and they both have very good players, but we are striking the ball well and playing well enough to win at every position.”
Bloemendaal said.

This four consecutive road match stretch will challenge this young team to stay mentally strong and focused. Although they were able to win five home matches consecutively, the Hoosiers have to learn how to keep that intensity when playing on the road.

Bloemendaal said he believes they can compete with the best as long as his players know how to play their game.

“Nobody in the country has given us trouble when we play our tennis,” he said. “We are learning how to play our tennis all in the same day.”

Bloemendaal said he believes in his team. He has witnessed them win when they are mentally prepared. The action will start for the Hoosiers at noon in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the Murr Center tennis courts.

“We can get gritty late and compete on a championship level,” Bloemendall said.