No. 53 IU men's tennis opens Big Ten tourney against Penn State

The No. 53 IU men’s tennis team (17-13, 6-5) will be starting the Big Ten Championships today in Columbus, Ohio. IU will start off the tournament by facing Penn State at 4 p.m. April 25, a team who they beat 5-2 earlier in the season.

The Hoosiers finished the regular season with a 6-5 conference record, putting them at the sixth spot in the conference standings. Penn State struggled all season in the Big
Ten, winning only two out of 11 conference matches.  

The Nittany Lions ended their regular season with a four-match losing streak. The Hoosiers are using the Big Ten Championships as a way to get into the NCAA Tournament. IU Coach Randy Bloemendaal said there are still some things that the team needs to work on before going deep into the tournament.

“We still haven’t been a team that has been clutch, good under pressure,” Bloemendaal said. “I think we have been a team that’s been consistent until the last two matches really and put ourselves in position to win.”

Bloemendaal said when it comes to the Big Ten Championships, it is just as much physical as it is mental. Another key detail to keep in mind is that the Hoosiers will be playing at a neutral site.

IU has only played in two neutral sites all season, losing two out of three matches played. Senior Isade Juneau said he is staying focused on IU’s team goal of making the tournament.

“It is a big tournament and lots of things can happen,” Juneau said. “If we do well in this tournament we can have the NCAA after that, so hopefully it will be good.”
These tournament matches that the Hoosiers are competing in will be the last matches that senior Josh MacTaggart and Juneau will play in at IU. As long as IU keeps winning throughout the tournament, these two players will be able to prolong their college careers.

“One thing we have to do in this tournament is we have to stick together,” MacTaggart said. “We have to fight together as a team. We really have to come together and just fight for each other on the court.”