Men’s swimming and diving to face Michigan

It is a new year, an old rival and another chance for the Hoosiers to make their mark in the Big Ten.\nThis weekend, IU is set to face the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Mich. for the second time this season. IU fell to the Wolverines 167-133 in November in a triple meet with Texas, but IU coach Ray Looze expects to see a different team in the pool this time around.\n“We’re excited,” Looze said. “This meet will really give us a chance to show we are better than what we were first semester, which I firmly believe.”\nIn their last meeting, the Hoosier swimmers put up a hard-fought battle. Senior swimmer Ben Hesen brought IU their first lead of the day in the leadoff leg of the 200-yard medley relay. Hesen later helped put the Hoosiers ahead of Michigan during the 100-meter backstroke. The diving squad also finished with three top-10 finishes, including a second place finish from freshman diver Landon Marzullo. \nIU diving coach Jeff Huber knows his team did well last semester, but agreed with Looze - his team is better than last time. \n“It’ll be a really nice test to see where we’re at (at) the big boy event,” Huber said. “We’re a lot better team since the Ohio State invite back in early December. These guys really worked hard over break.” \nAlthough he is looking forward to competing in the swimming portion of the meet, junior swimmer Steffan Troxel believes it will be the diving squad that will help bolster the Hoosiers score.\n“I think our diving is really going to help us out,” Troxel said. “We’re traditionally a really good diving squad. That is definitely one of our strong points.”\nIn past seasons, the teams agreed that whichever team hosted first would also host the second meeting between the two rivals. However, this season the Hoosiers volunteered to make the trip to Michigan even though they were the host team of the triple meet early last semester. Looze hopes the loss of home advantage will help prepare his team for the Big Ten Tournament, which will take place at Michigan in late February.\nEven though the Michigan team is known for having consistent competitors in nearly every area, Looze thinks the Hoosiers are on an equal playing field.\n“We’re a deep team, too,” Looze said. “We just haven’t been as visible.”