Hoosiers look to upset Illini, keep climbing rankings

The No. 29 IU men’s tennis team will try to knock off another conference power when No. 13 Illinois visits Bloomington at noon Saturday.

Coming off last Sunday’s upset of then-No. 18 Michigan and riding a seven-match winning streak, the Hoosiers (16-4, 3-0) are brimming with confidence.

“I think this year we can definitely get the win over Illinois, especially with the momentum we got from the Michigan game,” IU sophomore Josh MacTaggart said. “I think they lost 7-0 at Ohio State last week, so it would be good to put the coffin in their season.”

The Illini (10-7, 2-1) have played a tough schedule this season and have three players ranked in the top 100 in singles. MacTaggart, IU’s lone ranked player, is No. 109.

After the Illinois match, the Hoosiers will be host to No. 62 Iowa at noon Sunday. The Hoosiers’ No. 1 singles player, junior Jeremy Langer, said the Hawkeyes will challenge IU as well.

“We beat them the last time we played them, but they’re always a tough team and they always compete hard, so we can be ready for another tough match there too,” Langer said.