IU women’s tennis played its way into the Big Ten Tournament last Sunday when it defeated Penn State 6-1 to secure the tenth and final spot in the conference’s postseason.
The Hoosiers come into the 2 p.m. match on Thursday as the No. 10 seed and will play the No. 7 seed Iowa Hawkeyes.
“We knew if we worked as a team that we could that we could win that match because of our team dynamic,” sophomore Madison Appel said. “I think now that we have this match under our belt we are excited to play Iowa.”
The Hoosiers and Hawkeyes met March 11 for their first conference match of the season. The Hawkeyes took the win at Iowa, 6-1.
IU Coach Ramiro Azcui said the team did not play well against Iowa, but his team is aware that this time around will be much different.
It will be different for a few reasons. One is that instead of the match being at Iowa or IU, it will be in a neutral setting. The other is IU has made some big lineup changes since March 11.
Iowa will see new matchups at the No. 2 and 3 doubles spot. Senior Paula Gutierrez and sophomore Natalie Whalen will be at the two, and sophomore Caitlin Bernard and freshman Pauline Jahren will be at the three. Also, Jahren and Schmider have switched at No. 5 and 6 singles. Jahren is five, and Schmider is six.
The constants for the Hoosiers are Schmider and Appel at the No. 1 doubles spot. The two are ranked No. 52 in the nation and have an overall record of 28-7 on the season. In the singles, it’s Appel at the one, Gutierrez at the two, Bernard at the three and Whalen at the four.
The Hoosiers aren’t the only ones to have made changes in their lineup since the two previously met, however. Azcui said that it’s possible that his team might see new matchups at the No. 3, 4, 5 and 6 singles positions and all-new matchups in the doubles.
“It’s a totally different match,” Azcui said. “We are playing really well right now, and I think the belief that we can do this is pretty high.”
Appel said the team needs to replicate the performance it had against Penn State.
“We are at our best when we are cheering for each other and are loud and have a lot of energy,” Appel said.
The team closed the last two weeks of the season on the road. Now, on the road again the team has barely been able to be on campus. Azcui said that with finals coming up next week that this is a whole different challenge within itself for his team.
To keep a good balance Azcui only had the team practice for an hour for this week. He is trying to keep his team rested and fresh to allow them to have the best chance to upset Iowa today.
The match will take place at 3 p.m.
