With two important Big Ten wins last weekend, IU men’s tennis got back in the NCAA team rankings after being knocked out the previous week.
However, there is no time to relax because IU is set to match up against two higher-ranked Big Ten opponents on the road.
For its last regular season weekend, No. 49 IU will face No. 30 Wisconsin before playing No. 33 Minnesota two days later.
“Going into this weekend with these two wins behind our back gives us that confidence,” sophomore Oliver Sec said. “We really need it because we are facing two highly ranked teams right now.”
Although both the Badgers and the Golden Gophers are ranked higher, the Hoosiers shut both of them out last season in Bloomington.
In the last matches junior Raheel Manji and sophomore Afonso Salgado won in singles and doubles against Wisconsin. Against Minnesota, Manji, Salgado, senior Stefan Lugonjic and sophomore Antonio Cembellin earned points for the Hoosiers.
This season, however, IU coach Jeremy Wurtzman said he expects much closer matchups because all three teams are similar.
“The matches are really going to come down to a few things,” Wurtzman said. “Whatever those few things are I hope that we are on top.”
IU is currently 4-5 in Big Ten play, whereas Wisconsin is 6-3 and Minnesota is 4-4.
On March 11 the Badgers beat the Golden Gophers by one point, 4-3, in a matchup that was decided by a three-set match at position two singles.
Sec said IU may be the underdog in terms of rankings, but IU has had a much tougher schedule than this weekend’s opponents so far.
Sec also said it is important for the Hoosiers to stay together since they will be away from home, but beating both the Badgers and Gophers last season will help their confidence.
“That helps us a lot, going into the matchup knowing that we have beaten them before,” Sec said. “They have been a little bit more successful than us, but that does not mean that we can not go out this weekend and beat them.”
Wurtzman said the experience the Hoosiers have gained by playing on the road through the season could play to their advantage and hopes their best play comes together this upcoming weekend.
IU will play Wisconsin at 2 p.m. Friday at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium, and at 1 p.m. Sunday IU will match up against Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Sec said it will not be an easy task due to not having home courts, but also said the Hoosiers have good momentum.
“We are going to be playing outside which I think it is really good,” Sec said. “Because both teams have big serves and I think outdoors slows down the pace and a lot of us have been working on our consistency and playing well outdoors, I think we got a really good shot this weekend.”
