Hoosiers head to USC to play in ITA Kick-Off tournament

The No. 46 IU men’s tennis team will travel to Los Angeles this weekend to play in a four-team Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off tournament.

Defending national champion Southern California is the No. 1 seed and will be the host of the tournament. In the first round, three-seeded IU will play No. 43 Brigham Young and USC will take on fourth-seeded San Diego State, the ITA’s No. 52 ranked team.

Each team will play two matches, with the winners of the first round squaring off in the final and the losers playing a consolation match. The team that wins both of its matches will gain entry into the ITA National Team Indoor Championship from Feb. 18 to 21.

IU coach Randy Bloemendaal said the tournament should challenge the Hoosiers (3-1).

“It’s not going to be easy. This is a national tournament,” Bloemendaal said. “BYU, we play them in the first round, and they’re tough, they’re really tough.”

BYU enters the tournament at 2-2 and has two nationally ranked singles players in addition to a couple of top-50 doubles tandems.

The level of competition shouldn’t shock the Hoosiers after a 4-3 loss to No. 12 Kentucky on Tuesday, but sophomore Josh MacTaggart said it wouldn’t get any easier if IU gets past BYU.

“This weekend’s going to be tough because USC won last year so that would be a tough challenge if we get to play them,” MacTaggart said. “But coming so close with UK this week is definitely going to help us out in California.”

Bloemendaal said another obstacle facing the team is that it will be switching from playing on indoor courts to outdoor courts.

“It’s going to be an interesting weekend, but it’s a great opportunity,” Bloemendaal said. “We’re going to play possibly two teams ranked in front of us, so I think it’s an opportunity to beat one of these teams.”