Hoosiers best Northwestern 4-0 in Big Ten Tournament

The Big Ten Tournament began Thursday, which only means one thing for the No. 37 IU men’s tennis team – it’s do-or-die time. \nThe single-elimination bracket features all 11 Big Ten teams, 13 singles players ranked in the top 125 nationally and 12 doubles pairs ranked in the top 60. \nPlay began Thursday morning as Iowa took down Purdue quickly by a score of 4-0. Having beaten Illinois in the championship match last year, the Buckeyes are aiming for their third championship in as many years as they return as the No. 1 seed in this year’s tournament.\nThe second match of the day featured the Hoosiers and No. 11 seed Northwestern. The Wildcats entered the match looking for their first conference win. \nThe Hoosiers were determined not to be Northwestern’s first victim as they made quick work of the Wildcat side in a match that ended similarly to Iowa’s besting of Purdue, 4-0. \nNormally, seven total points are tallied in each collegiate tennis match, but in postseason play the match is cut short once the winner is determined.\nThe Hoosiers got it going early as they swept all three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead heading into singles play. \n“Doubles play has a huge effect on the match,” said senior Thomas Richter. “It can definitely affect your play in singles as well.”\nDublin, Ireland, native senior Dara McLoughlin continued the pounding of the Wildcats as his match at No. 2 singles finished first. McLoughlin beat Alex Sanborn in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1 to bring the match score to 2-0.\n“I’ve had some really close matches recently where I didn’t come through,” McLoughlin said Thursday. “I started the same way today but continued to stick with the process and stay positive in the tough times and it worked for me today.”\nCoach Randy Bloemendaal said the match was McLoughlin’s best overall performance – in both doubles and singles – he has seen in a while.\nAlready halfway to a victory, Richter capped off a straight-set victory, 6-3, 6-3 over Marc Dwyer. \nThe Hoosiers needed just one point to clinch their opening-round match and many of the matches were tight at the time, Bloemendaal said.\nBut freshman Lachlan Ferguson continued his recent strong play when he pulled through in the clutch and captured his match at No. 4 singles to seal the deal for the Hoosiers. \n“Lachlan is the heart and soul of this team right now,” Bloemendaal said. “He beat a guy that beat him pretty bad two weeks ago and that’s something that’s really tough to do.”\nThe Hoosiers are set to face No. 15 Illinois in the No. 3 vs. No. 6 matchup at 3 p.m. Friday. The squad is excited to see if they can knock off the Illini, last year’s tournament runner-up.\nIllinois had a first-round bye Thursday, and the Hoosiers will be their first opponent of the tournament, while IU – playing back-to-back days – has little time to prepare for the Illini. \n“Most of our preparation for Illinois will be done in the meeting rooms,” Bloemendaal said. “As a team we will talk about our energy approach for Illinois and do some extended stretches.”\nOn April 13, the Illini squad beat the Hoosiers in Urbana 5-2.\n“We don’t need to do anything fancy tomorrow,” McLoughlin said. “We have to pay attention to detail and do everything right leading up to and throughout the match.”