Big Ten Tournament scheduled to be played in Bloomington

For the first time since 2002, IU will play host to the Big Ten Women’s Tennis Tournament in Bloomington this weekend.

The No. 38 Hoosiers (17-8, 6-5), who finished as the 6-seed, will face 11-seed Wisconsin at 2 p.m. today in their opening-round match.

The top four teams in the conference — No. 6 Michigan, No. 16 Nebraska, No. 15 Northwestern and No. 28 Purdue — will receive first round byes and play the winners of today’s opening round matches.

Matches will begin every day at 10 a.m., except for Sunday, April 28, when the championship match will be played at 2 p.m.

Weather pending, all matches will take place at the outdoor IU Varsity Tennis Courts and matches will be played indoors at the IU Tennis Center if there is inclement weather.

On Tuesday evening, IU Coach Lin Loring said on a radio show that for matches to be played outdoors, the temperature must be at least 50 degrees and the wind cannot exceed 20 miles per hour.

According to weather.com, it will be mostly sunny on Thursday with a high temperature of 58 degrees and 16 mile-per-hour winds. It is projected to be cloudy with temperatures in the 60s and a low chance of rain for the rest of the weekend.

“We’ve actually played really well outdoors but unfortunately with the way the spring has been, we haven’t had too many opportunities to play outdoors,” Loring said.
“We’re confident that whatever way the weather holds this weekend we can do well.”

Iowa, Ohio State, Minnesota and Wisconsin tied with a 3-8 record in the Big Ten.
Loring said that the teams were so close that the conference office had difficulty breaking the tie.

Based on the tiebreaking rules, Iowa finished eighth, Ohio State ninth, Minnesota tenth and Wisconsin eleventh.

The Hoosiers defeated the Badgers 7-0 on April 14 in Bloomington.

“I don’t think there will be any surprises, we’ll know how to prepare for them and they’ll know how to prepare for us since we just played,” Loring said.

IU bested Wisconsin 4-0 in the first round of last year’s Big Ten Tournament before falling to Michigan in the quarterfinals.

The other opening round matchups are 8-seed Iowa vs. 9-seed Ohio State, 5-seed Illinois vs. 12-seed Michigan State and 7-seed Penn State vs. 10-seed Minnesota.
The Big Ten Tournament will feature eight nationally ranked teams, 13 ranked singles players and 11 ranked doubles combinations.

IU has two ranked singles players. Sophomore Katie Klyczek is ranked No. 103 in the nation and senior Leslie Hureau is No. 110.

Playing in the Big Ten Tournament at home could prove to be a significant advantage for the Hoosiers. IU is 10-3 in Bloomington this season and earlier in the season Loring said that the Hoosiers are “fresher” at home.

He said the women are excited for the tournament, and that the advantages of hosting it extend beyond having the home-court advantage.

“They realize what an advantage it is to be here and finals start Monday,” he said. “A couple years ago were in the airport in Minnesota on Sunday night with finals on Monday.”

Loring said a lot of the players’ parents will be in town for the tournament, including Hureau’s parents, who will travel from France to watch their daughter play in Bloomington for the final time.

Loring said he feels good and that the women are really excited knowing that they’re going to be at full strength.

“I think the girls feel really confident going into that first match and they know that they have to take care of business before looking ahead to Northwestern,” he said.