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Men’s tennis
Hoosiers break road losing streak

One of the major problems for the IU men’s tennis team this season has been its inconsistent play on the road.

A player dominates a match one day and then fails to show up the next. The team beats a ranked team one week and struggles against a similar opponent the next.

IU coach Randy Bloemendaal tinkered with the lineup a little bit last week and saw great results.

Led by strong performances by the freshman class — Josh MacTaggart, Isade Juneau and Alex van Gils — the No. 47 Hoosiers ended their road losing streak by winning all three of their matches in Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday.

MacTaggart has been performing like an upperclassman all year for the Hoosiers (9-3).
He won the Big Ten singles title and advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITA Regional during the fall.

Juneau and van Gils, however, have found themselves in and out of the lineup throughout the season.

That might change after the trip down south.

The three freshmen combined to go 9-0 in singles play during the three matches — all nine of which came in straight sets.

“They kind of led the way for us,” Bloemendaal said. “Obviously, they helped us out tremendously.”

Bloemendaal rewarded the youngsters for their effort in the final match against Fairleigh Dickinson by removing junior Lachlan Ferguson and junior Santiago Gruter from the lineup and moving MacTaggart, Juneau and van Gils up from No. 4, 5 and 6 singles to 2, 3 and 4, respectively.

Even without the veteran players, the Hoosiers knocked off Fairleigh Dickinson, 7-0.

“I talked to the guys a lot after each match about how good I thought the freshmen did,” the third-year coach said. “All three of them had great energy on the court, and they just went out there and were very businesslike about the way they played their matches.”  
— Justin Albers

Water polo
IU takes four of five matches in California

Since the 2004-05 season, the IU women’s water polo team has spent its alternative spring break in the pool.

IU coach Barry King said before the season started that they spent a lot of time in the weight room in order to make sure they have enough energy to keep their high-level performance until spring’s end.

While most IU students were relaxing or having fun during the nine-day spring break, the Hoosiers were in northern California competing in a five-day, five-game schedule.
With four wins, they made their break nice and warm.

Before the tournament kickoff against Santa Clara on March 13, IU junior attacker Nicole Redder was one goal shy from the 100-goal plateau for her Hoosier career, and 5 goals from making the top 10 on the IU all-time scoring list.
She used two games to leave those records behind.

Redder scored 4 goals in the Hoosiers’ late-surge victory against Santa Clara, her fifth time this season with at least 4 goals in a single game. It was her goal along with one from junior attacker Kelsey Campbell that both came in a span of 19 seconds to secure the Hoosiers’ win.

In the next competition against Cal State Monterey Bay, Redder nailed two goals, enough for her to surpass Janis Pardy’s (2004-06) 104 goals, making her No. 9 on the all-time scoring list.   

11 players contributed in scoring the Hoosiers’ 15 goals, winning 15-4. Freshman attacker Megan McAuley had her first 2 assists as a Hoosier.

King said before the season he was wondering if he could see more versatile plays from sophomore attacker Jakie Köhli after she returned from playing World University Games for Canada in 2009.

She only made him wonder more.

Köhli had up a career-high 6 steals in the victory over Cal State Monterey Bay, and she continued to stay huge in the overtime-win against Pacific. Despite a team-high 4 goals, she also had 4 steals, including one on Pacific’s final possession to seal the 10-9 thrilling IU win.

Sophomore goalkeeper Cassie Wyckoff recorded a career-high 17 saves.
— Kevin Wang

Softball
Hoosiers struggle at home

The IU softball team (6-18) lost all three games this weekend in Bloomington at the IU
Classic.

With the three losses, the Hoosiers extended their losing streak to nine games.
In the first game against the SIU Edwardsville Cougars, IU lost 11-0 in five innings.

Junior pitcher Erika Taylor pitched a no-hitter against the Hoosiers in the game.
In the second game, IU lost to the Central Michigan Chippewas in a close fought game, 3-2.

Senior outfielder Jennifer Gluekert went three for four with a run in the game.
The Chippewas scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to give them their ninth win of the season.

The next day, the Hoosiers faced the Chippewas again and lost, 8-2.

Freshman infielder Amanda Wagner hit 1-3 with 1 RBI in the game.

The Hoosiers left nine on base in the loss.

IU looks to improve its record as it plays Louisville on Wednesday and Evansville twice on Thursday.
—Aaron Siegal-Eisman