IU starts tourney push against No. 15 Louisville

The Hoosiers have yet to play a team currently ranked in the top 15 this season. The team will play against two this week alone.

The brutal schedule begins today when the No. 41 IU men’s tennis team will play host to No. 15 Louisville at 2 p.m. and unranked Vincennes at 7:30 p.m. at the IU Tennis Center. The Hoosiers will face No. 5 Ohio State on Friday.

“This is the time of year when we’re trying to get to our best tennis, and I think that schedule will help us get there,” IU coach Randy Bloemendaal said. “Guys are going to have to step up and respond to it.”

For the next three weeks, IU will be working hard to prove that it belongs in the field of 64 for the NCAA Tournament.

The Hoosiers (12-5, 3-3) still don’t have a real signature win on their resume. They haven’t beaten any higher-ranked teams, and their best win came at No. 53 Northwestern on March 28.

A win against Louisville, a team that has only won in Bloomington once, could be the one the Hoosiers have been so desperately looking for.

That task won’t be accomplished easily, however, because IU is coming off of its toughest loss of the season against No. 37 Minnesota on Sunday.

“It’s going to be tough,” Bloemendaal said. “With a young team, this is very difficult. But really, it’s all about being resilient at this point. You’ve got to let it go and get ready to play again.”