Men’s tennis seeks home win

No. 69 IU men’s tennis will play No. 16 Penn State, its 18th ranked opponent of the season, on Sunday. IU has won just three of those 18 matches this season.

This match will be the first time back on the court for the Hoosiers after losing to the Boilermakers for the first time in eight years Wednesday.

Sunday will also serve as senior day for IU’s lone senior Dimitrije Tasic.

“I think he’s someone who’s very well respected and very well liked within the program,” IU Coach Randy Bloemendaal said. “I think it gives us an opportunity to rally around him after Purdue.”

Bloemendaal said he sees the honoring of Tasic as something that can motivate the team to return from the tough match against Purdue.

IU won the doubles point and five of six first sets against Purdue. Bloemendaal said maintaining leads has been IU’s biggest detractor this season.

He also said his team needs to grab another early lead against Penn State.

“It’s always important to get out to leads,” Bloemendaal said. “But the very thing we’ve struggled with this season is not getting out to leads, but holding on once we have the leads. We’ve done a pretty good job of getting leads all year long and a very below average job of finishing matches.”

This will not be easy, as Penn State boasts one of the top doubles teams in the country. The Nittany Lions have won 19 of 21 doubles points in 2014.

“I’m expecting that to be a tough part of the match,” Bloemendaal said. “I don’t think they’re unbeatable if we lose the doubles, but I think it’s an important part of the match.”

IU has beaten Penn State three years in a row — something Bloemendaal said has him thinking optimistically before Sunday.

“We’ve beaten those guys,” Bloemendaal said. “It’s kind of a weird situation because they’re having a great season, but we have guys in our lineup that have beat Penn State.”

Sophomores Daniel Bednarczyk and Samuel Monette both won their respective singles and doubles matches against the Nittany Lions last season.

Tasic is 2-1 in his individual career against Penn State.

“In tennis it doesn’t matter how well you’re playing,” Bloemendaal said. “If you’ve beaten the guy a couple of times, it’s really hard for the other guy to get over that emotionally, even if the other guy is better.”

Bloemendaal said he expects Sunday to be a tightly contested match, as no team has a clear advantage over the other.

“I don’t see a spot where they’re clearly better than us, and I don’t see a spot where we’re clearly better than them,” Bloemendaal said. “I think they’re slightly better than us, but it’s a slim margin between the two.”

Bloemendaal said he is confident in his team’s mental fortitude and its ability to make the Purdue match a mere speck in its rearview mirror.

“I attribute that to (Tasic) and the leadership within the team and the character of these guys,” Bloemendaal said. “I don’t think that’s going away, so I think we’re going to show up for Sunday and be ready to go.”?