No. 33 IU takes on No. 31 Ohio State in opening Big Ten match

After months of practice, weeks of doubleheaders and days of anticipation, the Hoosiers will finally compete in their first Big Ten match of the spring season.\nAfter last weekend’s victories over No. 51 DePaul and unranked Xavier, IU is looking forward to facing Big Ten opponent No. 31 Ohio State.\nAlthough this is not the Hoosier’s first road trip this season – they lost 4-3 to No. 37 Wake Forest Feb. 22 – junior Alba Berdala said the team is more focused on this weekend’s match than any other this season.\n“I feel this road trip is different because it’s a Big Ten match,” Berdala said. “We’re more mentally prepared. This is what we’ve been practicing for. This is when everything comes out.”\nSophomore Lindsey Stuckey said playing against the Buckeyes will offer the Hoosiers good preparation before they take on other Big Ten schools. The team is excited about playing important matches, she said. \n“This time we’re more fired up because these are the matches that actually count,” Stuckey said. “Every match counts, but these are the ones we’ve been working so hard for. We’re going to have some tough ones, especially on the road. Ohio State’s a good start. We’ve got to work our way up to Northwestern, now No. 1 in the country. The Big Ten will be tough this year, but I think we’ll do well.”\nAfter losing the doubles point in two 4-3 losses to Wake Forest and No. 17 Tennessee, freshman Charlotte Martin said the new combinations the Hoosiers unveiled last weekend have made the team more confident about competing in doubles this weekend and later in the season.\n“We’ve been working doubles quite a bit the last few weeks,” Martin said. “I think everyone is starting to feel a bit more comfortable now with the new doubles lineup ... This weekend might be more of a test because I think we’re playing stronger opposition. I think everyone’s feeling a bit more confident about it.”\nEven though the Buckeyes are ranked two spots ahead of the Hoosiers, the team is not discouraged. IU coach Lin Loring reassured the team that the rankings don’t reflect the abilities of the two teams. \n“The rankings don’t mean much because it’s too early,” Stuckey said. “(Loring) showed us the rankings and told us not to be intimidated because they’re ahead of us. They haven’t had any great wins or bad losses, but we’ve had some good wins, especially Kentucky who is ranked No. 15 right now. He told us not to have any outside thought about it and just play the match.”\nMartin also said playing only one match will be a nice change from their usual doubleheaders. \n“You go into it with a different attitude,” Martin said. “You can put everything you’ve got into the one match, whereas when you have a doubleheader you’ve got to think ahead for the next match. That’s pretty tiring. It’s nice to be able to focus just on the one match.”\nThe Hoosiers will play Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday.