MacTaggart, Vogl key weekend victories in Cambridge

The No. 44 IU men’s tennis team won two matches in Cambridge, Mass., this weekend, defeating both No. 64 Harvard and No. 72 William & Mary by a score of 6-1.

The Hoosiers (6-2) won all three doubles matches and five of six singles matches against the Crimson on Friday. IU’s No. 1 doubles team of Stephen Vogl and Josh MacTaggart won 9-7 against Harvard’s Alistair Felton and Andy Nguyen, the 46th-ranked duo in the country.

IU lost only three sets to Harvard in singles play, with Isade Juneau dropping a three-setter at No. 5 and freshman Claes Goransson winning 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 4.

Against William & Mary on Saturday, Goransson lost the only singles match for the Hoosiers, and the rest of IU’s players won in straight sets.

IU coach Randy Bloemendaal said his team played with good effort despite a hectic travel week, which included a trip the previous weekend to Los Angeles and a canceled flight from Indianapolis to Boston before the Harvard match.

Playing through these challenges, Bloemendaal said, will help the team in its four home matches this weekend, including a Sunday matchup with No. 24 Oklahoma.

“It’s always harder to play on the road and when you get a little tired. I think that makes it a little more difficult,” Bloemendaal said. “We’ve gained a lot of confidence in the last seven to eight days. We’ve been on a track to becoming a really good team, and I think the guys are starting to see that coming together.”