The Hoosiers went into this weekend with an opportunity to go up a game against Minnesota in the Big Ten standings. They walked away needing to play their way into the Big Ten tournament.
The team traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday to play the Wisconsin Badgers. The Hoosiers were able to get the doubles point, which they have been struggling to do, and went up 1-0 in the match.
From there, the team won five out of the six singles matches to win the match 6-1. Then they hopped on a plane and went to Minnesota for a big tiebreaker match for ninth place in the conference with the Golden Gophers, who won 6-1 against the Purdue Boilermakers the same day.
IU duplicated its doubles performance against Wisconsin and were able to gain the 1-0 advantage against the Gophers. However, this time around the Hoosiers dropped five out of the six singles matches to lose the match 5-2.
“We are playing much better at doubles the last couple of weeks though after switching the No. 2 and 3 teams after the match against MSU,” IU Coach Ramiro Azcui said.
This was one of the longer road trips of the season for the Hoosiers, and Azcui said that could have been a factor in the team’s struggles in Minnesota.
“Both matches were very competitive,” Azcui said. “It took a lot out of us mentally and emotionally. When you factor in that we have finals coming up, it definitely can take its toll.”
The Hoosiers stayed at .500 on the season from splitting this weekend’s matches. They are now 12-12 and 3-6 in the conference. They sit at 10th in the Big Ten standings, and only the top 10 teams make the Big Ten Tournament on April 27.
Up next the Hoosiers will take on the No. 4-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes and the Penn State Nittany Lions. With a win against Penn State, IU is in.
“We are looking forward to playing Ohio State,” Azcui said. “Then having the opportunity to play our way into the Big Ten tournament against Penn State.”
