IU looks for 6th straight win

After taking a weekend off from competition, the No. 30 IU men’s tennis team will be back in action Sunday. The team will be heading to Nashville, Tenn., to compete against No. 33 Vanderbilt at noon CST.

This match will be the first of four consecutive away matches for the Hoosiers. IU will be looking for its first win away from home this weekend. Vanderbilt has only lost one match at home this season, creating a 5-1 home record. The Commodores’ last home loss came from then-No. 47 Harvard, whom Indiana will be playing next week.

The Hoosiers had extra time to prepare for this match-up considering they did not compete this past weekend after failing to qualify for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Even though IU did not have a match to compete in, they did not take the weekend off, IU Coach Randy Bloemendaal said.

“We had a good week of practice,” he said. “We went after it, we actually trained harder this past week and put more hours in.”

Vanderbilt junior Ryan Lipman is ranked at No. 22 in singles. Lipman has yet to lose a singles match this month.

“Vanderbilt is really tough at the top of the lineup,” Bloemendaal said.

However, Lipman is not the only individual that has excelled in February. IU freshman Sam Monette has won six straight singles matches, as well.

Despite three of the teams IU has faced this past month being ranked opponents, including Oklahoma in the top 10, Monette has managed to maintain success on the court.

This month has started well for the Hoosiers as a team. After their 1-5 start to the season, Indiana has managed to win five straight competitions since a 4-3 loss to the Sooners Feb. 1.

Indiana’s overall record is 6-5 while Vanderbilt has a 7-3 record. Both teams have managed to win five of their last six matches this month.

“We are playing at the same level,” Bloemendaal said. “It’s going to be a heck of a match.”