IU will be on the road this weekend as it faces Oregon and Boise State in Eugene, Oregon.
Seven games into the spring season, the Hoosiers are 4-3. Including the two matches this weekend, the Hoosiers have five matches left before the start of the Big Ten season.
“I wouldn’t say I’m happy,” IU Coach Jeremy Wurtzman said. “A better word would be motivated — in that we want to do well and achieve even greater success against the highly nationally ranked teams. I wouldn’t say I’m dissatisfied, but I’m not necessarily happy.”
The Hoosiers started the spring with a lot of optimism. The team set a goal of making the NCAA Tournament this year, and they think there is still a chance of meeting it.
The team has played many higher-ranked opponents as it faced No. 1 North Carolina, No. 35 Drake and No. 31 Notre Dame. Though the Hoosiers may have lost those games, they have learned from them, Wurtzman said.
“We are all very excited to continue to play in the season, and it’s still really early,” Wurtzman said. “We still have things to work on as we progress as a team, and the more experiences you have, I think, the better we’re going to be as long as we keep learning.”
IU has also picked up a win against a ranked opponent when it beat Washington at home Feb. 5.
Oregon is ranked at No. 37 and the Ducks are on a seven-match winning streak. However, the Hoosiers beat the Ducks 4-2 in Bloomington last year.
“I think they’re going to be pumped up to play us,” Wurtzman said. “They are going to remember that we beat them last year in a very close match.”
The Hoosiers will also face Boise State, whom they have not faced before, after playing Oregon on Friday. Wurtzman spoke about how the Broncos have a very accomplished coach in Greg Patton. Patton’s record at Boise State is 203-67, and he has won seven championships in nine seasons.
IU may not have played Boise State before, but its players said they are aware of the team’s chemistry and ability.
“I’ve heard that they’re a really well-coached team,” junior Matthew McCoy said. “They have a lot of camaraderie on the court, so that means we have to really stay together for the whole three hours or whatever it is.”
Wurtzman also spoke about the playing environment at Oregon and how the team needs to be ready for it; but more importantly, the matches this weekend are part of the process that hopefully will set the Hoosiers up for an appearance at the NCAA tournament.
“We’ve had a good preparation over the last two weeks, especially after having played those seven matches and having a bit of a break,” Wurtzman said. “There’re a lot of things to work on and get better at, and it may show this weekend, they may not, we can’t go by every result. In college tennis, everyone is so close together and there’s a big patch of teams where the results can go either way. So as long as we’re making progress I think that’s more important than anything.”
