Hoosiers split matches in the South

The No. 56 IU men’s tennis team (7-2) started off its weekend doubleheader in Alabama on a strong note, defeating the Troy Trojans by a score of 5-2, but lost to No. 20 Alabama 6-1.\nThe Hoosier team continued its dominance in doubles play as it swept the competition with scores of 8-3, 8-2, and 8-3. IU won all eight doubles points this season heading into its match against Alabama, but the Crimson Tide swept IU in doubles on Sunday. \nIU’s seniors continued to lead by example as Michael McCarthy quickly put the Trojans in an 0-2 hole with his 6-1, 6-0 victory. \nIt was the first outdoor match of the spring season for the Hoosiers.\n“I don’t feel like the weather played too much of a role but it was a little cold and still our first time outdoors,” McCarthy said. “This will prepare us for the rest of the outdoor season.”\nThree Hoosier freshmen, Phillip Eilers, Lachlan Ferguson and Santiago Gruter, followed suit and clinched the victory for IU, putting the team up 5-0. \nEilers downed his opponent in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. Ferguson and Gruter won their matches in similar fashion, winning 6-3, 6-2 and 6-2, 6-2, respectively. \nWhile senior Thomas Richter lost his match against Troy, he earned the Hoosiers’ only point in the loss to Alabama Sunday. Richter climbed out of a 1-0 hole to defeat Saketh Myneni in a three-set thriller, 4-6, 7-6, 10-8. \nFor the first time this season, IU did not earn the doubles point. In the No. 1 doubles match, Richter and Ferguson lost to No. 37 doubles pair Daniel Buikema and Mathieu Thibaudeau by a score of 8-3. In the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles contests the Hoosiers fell 8-5, 8-3, respectively. \n“I feel like our players gave them too much credit,” Bloemendaal said. “We should have done better, I’m very disappointed.”\nMcCarthy and Eilers were the closest the Hoosiers came to earning another point but each lost in three set heartbreakers. McCarthy fell to Alabama’s Michael Jung, 7-5, 4-6, 7-10. Eilers, who returned to his normal No. 2 position for the match, lost to Thibaudeau by a score of 1-6, 7-6, 2-6. \n“I feel like the matches this weekend give us a pretty good sense of where we stand,” McLoughlin said. \nIU travels to Raleigh, NC., next weekend to face Charlotte and North Carolina State. \n“Moving outdoors was a challenge but I feel we adapted fast,” McLoughlin said. “We have to work on competing all week in practice, it was nothing technical.”