Hoosiers prepare for Sooners and Jaguars

Head Coach Randy Bloemendaal and the IU men’s tennis team will be competing in another doubleheader at home Friday against the IUPUI Jaguars and the No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners. The day will start at 2 p.m. for the Hoosiers as they will be hosting Oklahoma first and competing against IUPUI at 7 p.m. in the Indoor Tennis Center.

IU is currently ranked No. 23 with a 1-4 record. The Sooners come into this completion with an undefeated record, and No. 36-ranked Guillermo Alcorta has had plenty of success this season.

“They have a really good team,” Bloemendaal said. “They have a legitimate top-10 team, and I actually think they have the potential to be top five by the end of the year.”

The Sooners were able to beat No. 28 ranked Harvard with a 4-0 score last weekend and will be looking to build from that momentum. IU has had a slow start to this season and hopes to turn it around starting with a win over Oklahoma.

Two of IU’s four losses have been by one point. Bloemendaal said he believes his team will be able to win the close matches as the season continues.

“It’s always breakdowns before breakthroughs. We’ve had a few breakdowns in the last week, and the schedule was very difficult. We’ve got a fairly young team, and I think we’re getting better,” he said.

The Hoosiers have nine active players on their roster, five of them freshmen. Oklahoma has only two freshmen out of their 10 active players listed, making them a more veteran team. Despite the difference in experience, Bloemendaal said he feels strongly about their chances against the Sooners.

“This is going to be a good match,” he said. “They have more than a couple of guys on their team that I think are really good players, but I think we’ve got equally as good players on our team.”

IUPUI has yet to win a match against any opponent, coming into this
weekend with a 0-6 record. One asset Bloemendaal said he believes the Hoosiers will have against both IUPUI and Oklahoma this weekend is home field advantage.

“We’ve got a very good team on our home court and we play well here,” Bloemendaal said. “We have a very good chance to come through this weekend.”