Senior day replay: Trio of Hoosiers look to repeat big win during final home match

A year ago, a comeback home victory at rival Illinois’ expense provided the current crop of seniors with one of the most enduring, triumphant memories of their careers.

After the Illini — who came to Bloomington toting a No. 13 national ranking — stormed out to an early 2-0 lead, IU responded by claiming four of the last five points to secure a 4-3 victory.

Seniors Stephen Vogl, Jeremy Langer and Will Kendall said they hope to conjure up a repeat of last year’s scenes of Hoosier joy at a 3 p.m. Friday Senior Day rematch with No. 20 Illinois at the Varsity Tennis Courts.

“You could just tell that there was something different that day and we weren’t going down,” said Vogl, whose straight-set victory at No. 6 halved the initial deficit and jump-started the revival.

“We’d taken beatings from Illinois in the past and really wanted to change the paradigm of Indiana tennis, and I think we did that last year. Being a senior, I, as well as Will and Jeremy, kind of have to tell the younger guys exactly how to refresh your mind and get that memory going again this time around.”

This weekend, No. 36 Indiana leads off against the Illini before playing Vincennes on Friday evening and heading northward for a conference-closing road clash with No. 44 Northwestern at 1 p.m. Sunday.

As for Friday’s showdown with Illinois, Langer, who recorded his 100th doubles victory as a Hoosier on Sunday against DePauw, revealed that motivation for a win would not be in short supply.

“Illinois is a marquee team. To beat them means a lot, and to beat them two years in a row, that would make an even bigger statement,” Langer said. “The fact that it’s the last match is really exciting for me, but even more so is the fact that we are playing Illinois — the occasion makes it an even more important match.”

Illinois (13-6, 7-2) will look to its own experienced netters to squelch a celebratory Senior Day send-off for the Hoosiers on Friday afternoon.

Its top two singles players, seniors Dennis Nevolo and Roy Kalmanovich, are ranked seventh and 30th in the country, respectively, and comprise the No. 20 doubles tandem nationally.

“(Illinois) is pretty good at the top, and after that, they’ve performed pretty well in some spots and not as well in others. We’re really pretty even,” IU Coach Randy Bloemendaal said. “I think we match up very well with them at the doubles, and I think (junior) Josh (MacTaggart) is starting to play really well at two, so (MacTaggart vs. Kalmanovich) is going be an interesting match.

“(Junior) Isade (Juneau) needs to step up, but it’s time, and he knows he’s capable. After one and two, we’re just as good or better than them at every position. Either team can win. It’s going to be a battle.”

After a nighttime encounter with Vincennes, the third-ranked junior college squad in the country, and a day of rest, a road trip to Northwestern (13-8, 6-3) will round out action for both the weekend and the Big Ten regular season.

The Wildcats’ strong campaign thus far has caught the attention of Bloemendaal and the Hoosiers.

“They’re probably better than most people expected, but they’ve had a lot of talent on that team for a couple of years, and it looks like they’ve got it going at the right time,” Bloemendaal said.

Vogl, who said he shared his coach’s respect for the Wildcats’ body of work this season, admitted that the mid-weekend change of scenery — the first transit of its kind this spring — might actually benefit the Hoosiers, considering the frenzied state of campus this week.

“It’s just another match on the road, and it’s Little Five week here, so getting out of town is probably a good thing,” Vogl said.