Hoosiers to take on No. 4 Buckeyes for Big Ten title

Today’s the day.

All season, the No. 24 Hoosier men’s tennis team has said it was its goal to win a Big Ten championship. Based on recent history and its position behind three or four conference rivals in the national rankings, it seemed an unlikely goal.

But the team kept winning, going a perfect 8-0 in conference play.

Today’s 4 p.m. showdown at No. 4 Ohio State (25-2, 8-0) will determine the Big Ten’s regular-season champion.

“For a long time this is something we’ve been thinking about,” IU coach Randy Bloemendaal said. “We’re right where we need to be. It’s going to be extremely tough at Ohio State, and I think everybody knows that, and they’re working hard to get ready for the match.”

The Buckeyes are currently on a 74-match conference winning streak and have won the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles for five consecutive seasons.

IU junior Jeremy Langer said the Hoosiers aren’t intimidated by Ohio State’s past dominance.

“I think the mentality is we’re not really looking at the ranking or what they’ve accomplished. We’re looking at them as individual players,” Langer said. “I think the goal is to have everyone focus on their own court and come together as a team to win the match.”

Ohio State’s singles lineup features seven players ranked in the top 100, including two in the top 15. IU has zero ranked players. And while both teams have nationally ranked doubles teams, the Buckeyes’ best tandem is ranked 51 spots above the Hoosiers’.

IU junior Stephen Vogl said the Hoosiers aren’t putting too much stock in the rankings.

“It’s hard to ignore that, obviously, but numbers are numbers at the end,” Vogl said. “We think we should be higher than 23 or 24 in the country right now. I mean, if it was just based on numbers then there would be no point in playing the match. So we’re just going to go in there, give it our all, give it our best effort and hopefully come out on top.”

Bloemendaal said he respects the Buckeye players but is confident his team can compete.

“Do I think physically we match up? Absolutely,” Bloemendaal said. “At the same time, I think they’ve got a really good team and I think they’ve got a lot of good players, so it’s going to take a tremendous effort to win that match.”

The Hoosiers will also visit last-place Penn State (10-15, 0-8) at noon Sunday. For now, though, the Hoosiers’ sole focus is Friday’s battle against conference bully Ohio State.

“You’re not going to convince anybody that we’re the favorites in that match,” Bloemendaal said. “It’s at Ohio State, but it’s a tremendous opportunity. How many opportunities do you get to play on the last weekend for the championship?”