The men's tennis team will come off its first major victory of the season and look to carry that into an extended homestand this weekend.
The Cardinals (3-3) will play host to Indiana State and Eastern Kentucky on Friday before taking on their fifth Big 10 school in as many weeks when No. 68 Purdue comes to town.
"It's a pretty demanding weekend, pretty ambitious scheduling on my part," coach Bill Richards said.
The extended weekend means the Cardinals' deep lineup will be tested, as several players from throughout the lineup will see playing time.
"We need to see a lot of guys with three matches in three days," Richards said "It's going to need a lot of depth."
The Cardinals, who have not dropped a doubles point all season, will look to continue their success in doubles play. The No. 56 duo of Matt Baccarani and Patrick Thompson hope to continue their winning streak. The duo holds a 5-0 record heading into the extended weekend.
"DOUBLES"
Baccarani will also lead the way in singles, where he holds a 2-3 record. He will face No. 76 Paul Rose in the Purdue matchup. Matt Laramore and Tony Epkey will follow Baccarani in the singles slate.
"We hope we can work it out where no one will have to play all six [singles and doubles] matches," Richards said. "I think we have to play [ISU] straight up, and my hope is to play three of the guys who play singles against Indiana State against Eastern Kentucky and then play three guys that did not play against Indiana State."
Thompson, Paul Newman, Klint Knable and Jan Polhamous have filled the remaining singles spots against Big 10 schools, but Brad Rhodes, Mike Heule and Jimmy Brannon have also seen playing time this season.
"I think it will definitely be a test, " Richards said. "I'll be disappointed if the conditioning aspect is a problem. I certainly don't want to overplay the potential for physical difficulty; it won't be a problem. We're not really splitting playing time because of the physical aspect so much, we're splitting playing time because we feel we have a lot of players capable of contributing."
The Cardinals won't get much of a break, as they take a few days off before facing No. 70 Indiana on Thursday.
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