Hoosiers look for first victory against a ranked foe

The No. 57 IU men’s tennis team has lost its last three matches against ranked opponents. Sunday, the Hoosiers have an opportunity to end that streak at No. 24 Northwestern.

Sunday will be the first time IU (8-7) plays on the road this conference season, giving the Hoosiers their first taste of what is always a tough environment at Northwestern (10-6).

IU Coach Randy Bloemendaal said he believes his team is not only ready for this environment, but will benefit from it.

“I think for us it’s a good time to go on the road,” Bloemendaal said. “Some parts of being on the road get you tighter. You’re in a hotel together and you’re doing everything together for 24 to 48 hours. When you’re at home, even though everything is familiar to you you’ve got a lot more going on, you’ve got more distractions.”

If the Hoosiers win Sunday, they will need to do two things, Bloemendaal said. They need their younger players to play well and they need to have a good performance in doubles matches.

With such a young team, Bloemendaal said the mental boost a doubles point victory could provide would be vital against Northwestern.

“When you have a younger team they like to see that one or two on the board with their name on it,” Bloemendaal said. “When you get that doubles point you tend to relax a bit and get to play your game from the start instead of trying to play catch up.”

IU will have an opportunity to win the doubles point Sunday. The Wildcats have won just half of their doubles points this year, while the Hoosiers have won eight out of 12 possible doubles points this year.

After the doubles point, the task becomes more difficult.

The Wildcats field one of the deepest singles lineups in the country.

“They’re all similar players,” Bloemendaal said. “They all play at similar levels from really their No. 1 to No. 5. I think their No. 1 is the most experienced and most clutch, and then everybody else is pretty close to the same player.”

The Hoosiers have just one player, senior Dimitrije Tasic, who has played a significant number of Big Ten road matches. The only other upperclassmen is junior Sven Lalic, and this is only his first year at IU after transferring from Armstrong Atlantic State.

“I think where it gets harder on the road, especially in the Big Ten, is for your younger players,” Bloemendaal said. “There’s no real way to substitute doing it other than just doing it.”

Sam Monette will figure to be a key player Sunday. The sophomore, who is now ranked No. 53 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles ranking, is 10-3 this season and 3-1 since he started playing at No. 1 singles.

Monette will be playing senior Raleigh Smith, who is 7-4,  while playing the entire season at the No. 1 position.

Bloemendaal said he sees signs that his team is on the verge of a breakthrough. He sees the team growing close and beginning to trust in one another.

“We’re building this like a skyscraper,” Bloemendaal said. “We might go four stories down, but we could go 1,000 stories up.”?