Team goes 3-1 in weekend tournament

The No. 45 IU men’s tennis team went 3-1 on the weekend, beating Illinois State, Central Florida and Toledo but falling 4-2 to No. 24 Oklahoma.

The Sooners’ lineup featured three singles players in the top 70 of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. After IU won the doubles point by knocking off two of the nation’s top 40 doubles tandems, the Hoosiers lost four of five singles matches before the final match was suspended, as the outcome of the match’s team score was already decided.

“We got the doubles, we had all the momentum going, and then that’s the problem when you come out a little flat in singles or if you come out and you’re on your heels,” said senior Santiago Gruter, the only IU player to win a singles match against Oklahoma. “You really can’t afford to do that against a highly ranked team, so I think that was the difference today.”

IU coach Randy Bloemendaal said Friday’s 7-0 sweeps of Illinois State and Central Florida showed the Hoosiers can play well against teams they’re favored against. But against the Sooners, Bloemendaal said the Hoosiers lost the mental battle despite matching up in skill level.

“That’s one of those things as a coach where you just continually put your players in the position to mentally execute and then they have to do it,” Bloemendaal said. “They’re the ones who have to believe and execute in those times.”

— Daniel Allar