IU loses match to DePaul at home, 4-3

The doubles point proved to make all the difference for the No. 68 IU men’s tennis team in its loss to No. 75 DePaul on Wednesday. \nWinning three of the six singles matches was not enough for the Hoosiers after dropping two of three doubles matches against the Blue Demons at IU Tennis Center.\n“There were a lot of ways that we could have won that match,” IU coach Ken Hydinger said. “We got in a position to win and didn’t keep playing the same way.”\nAt No. 1 doubles, IU played without junior Thomas Richter, who is back in Germany for the second time this month for personal reasons. His presence was missed as all three IU doubles teams held leads, but only one prevailed.\nAt No. 3 doubles, senior Arnaud Roussel and sophomore Mak Kendall led their opponents 3-1 but dropped seven of the next nine games, losing 8-5. Junior Dara McLoughlin and senior David Bubenicek were next off the court, escaping with an 8-6 victory at No. 1. \nIn the deciding match at No. 2, all four players were fired up and playing with intensity. After trailing 5-2, DePaul’s George Wang and Alasdair Graetz beat IU junior Mike McCarthy and sophomore Peter Antons 9-7, giving DePaul the doubles point. \nWith the Blue Demons up 1-0, the Hoosiers would need to take at least four singles matches to win the match. IU found itself in a hole, trailing 3-0 after McLoughlin and Antons fell in straight sets, but the Hoosiers had their chances on the other courts. \nAt No. 3 singles, McCarthy blew a 6-1, 5-0 lead but stormed back from behind in the second-set tiebreaker to win the match, 6-1 7-6 (7).\n“I got up big, then kind of let him back in,” McCarthy said. “It felt good to win in the end.”\nThe Hoosiers cut the deficit to 3-2 with a win at No. 4 by Roussel, 6-4, 7-6 (3), but at No. 6, Jack Komar clinched DePaul’s fourth point and the match by coming from behind to defeat Kendall, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1.\nWith DePaul ahead 4-2 and the match already decided, Bubenicek gave the Hoosiers their third win by defeating Wang at No. 1 in a baseline battle, 7-5, 2-6, 10-6. \nComing up short left the Hoosiers very disappointed, but still optimistic. \n“We’ve improved on a lot of things this year and can get better,” Hydinger said.\nNext up, the Hoosiers will battle No. 2 Ohio State at noon on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.