Hoosiers ready for "toss-up" weekend

After defeating Minnesota and Wisconsin at home last weekend, the No. 34 IU women’s tennis team (17-6, 6-3) is guaranteed to finish the season with a conference record above .500. The Hoosiers have two dual matches remaining.

IU will play No. 47 Illinois at 3 p.m. Friday at home and then the team will travel to Evanston, Ill., to face No. 16 Northwestern at noon Sunday.

IU is 10-2 at home this season, with the team’s only losses being 4-3 losses against teams ranked in the top 40. The majority of the Hoosiers’ losses this season have come on the road.

By the time the season is finished, IU will have faced the top four teams in the conference on the road this season, in addition to Tennessee and Kentucky, who are currently ranked in the top 50.

The Fighting Illini (12-9, 5-4) are in sole possession of sixth place in the Big Ten. They have won six of their last seven matches, including wins against No. 38 Penn State and No. 62 Ohio State last weekend. Illinois has defeated IU in each of the past four times that the schools have met.

IU Coach Lin Loring said he expects the match to be a toss-up.

“They’re playing much better the last couple weeks so I expect that to be a really good match for us,” he said.

Northwestern (13-8, 7-2) is tied for third in the conference with No. 27 Purdue. The Wildcats have won five of their past six dual matches, including two consecutive against ranked opponents. Northwestern’s résumé is filled with impressive victories.

The Wildcats defeated No. 38 Arkansas, No. 26 Purdue, No. 19 Notre Dame, No. 19 Baylor, No. 33 Illinois, No. 38 Penn State, and No. 62 Ohio State this season.

They will put their 8-4 home record on the line against the Hoosiers on Sunday.

Senior Kate Turvy and junior Veronica Corning are ranked No. 49 and No. 122 in singles, respectively.

 The Wildcats’ doubles combination of Linda Abu Mushrafova and Nida Hamilton is ranked No. 18 in the country.

IU will have its hands full against Northwestern. Northwestern has finished in the top two places in the conference every year since 1998 and the Wildcats won the Big Ten Tournament every year from 1998-11. During the past decade, Northwestern is 12-0 against IU and the Wildcats outscored the Hoosiers 69-7 during that span.

Loring said Northwestern’s indoor courts have a medium speed so he doesn’t expect them to give IU any trouble. However, if the matches are played outdoors, he said the weather and courts could affect the playing conditions.

“If we’re outdoors, there’s cold wind off the lake so it can get a little cold up there,” Loring said. “They actually have new outdoor courts that we haven’t played on yet.”

The Hoosiers are in sole possession of fifth place in the Big Ten. IU is two wins behind the conference leaders and one win from being tied for third place.

The top four teams earn first round byes in the Big Ten Tournament, which likely means that the Hoosiers will have to win both matches this weekend.

“A bye is always good because it’s tough to play four days in a row if you get to the finals,” Loring said. “Every team is dinged up at this time of the year so a bye is really big and that’s why you normally don’t see teams that don’t get a bye make it to the finals.”