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Full Version: Kentucky and Indiana meet again -- on the tennis court
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LEXINGTON, KY. — The University of Kentucky and Indiana University ended their longtime basketball rivalry last week over the Wildcats’ insistence that the series be moved to neutral sites and the Hoosiers’ refusal to take the games off campus.

Today, in a twist of irony, UK and IU will collide in another sport for the second time since the hoops series hit pause.

Both school advanced Friday to the second round of the NCAA tennis tournament at UK’s Boone Tennis Center, setting up a showdown today for a trip to the Sweet 16. (Friday’s action followed a 12-inning thriller the two schools staged in baseball Wednesday, with the Cats squeaking past the Hoosiers 6-5 in Bloomington.)

“I think a lot of people are excited about it outside the tennis world,” IU coach Randy Bloemendaal said of today’s matchup. “I think anytime Indiana and Kentucky play each other, a lot of people are paying attention.”

The 27th-ranked Hoosiers (22-8) prolonged their season by ending 37th-ranked Louisville’s with a 4-2 victory in Friday’s first round. That avenged an upset loss to the Cardinals (18-10) in the regular season.

Louisville senior Robert Hall seemed stunned after the match, speaking to reporters with tears in his eyes about how he and his teammates expected to not only win in Round 1 but also topple the sixth-ranked rival Wildcats (27-5) today to reach the program’s second-ever Sweet 16.

“We didn’t think it would end in the first round,” Hall said, “so it’s disappointing.”

The Cards had won six consecutive dual matches and nine of 11 against Indiana. The Hoosiers also came in with a 1-6 record all-time in the NCAA Tournament — with their only previous victory, coincidentally, coming against UK in 2000.

“Sometimes when you’ve had so much success against a program … you keep in the back of your mind, ‘How long is this streak going to last?’ I know how hungry they were,” U of L coach Rex Ecarma said. “But I’m really proud of this team. When we talked to the seniors at our last team meeting, Sumit Gupta is crying and he says, ‘I don’t want to leave this team. I want to be on this team forever.’ … It’s been a family, and some of the most amazing things a coach could ever want to hear, I just heard, so I feel like we’re doing something right.”http://www.courier-journal.com/article/2...ext|Sports