Hoosiers shock No. 18 Wolverines

His opponent’s errant shot hadn’t landed yet, but sophomore Josh MacTaggart was already turning to his teammates in celebration of IU’s biggest victory of the last
two seasons.

MacTaggart’s 6-1, 7-5 win at No. 3 singles clinched a 4-3 victory for the Hoosiers against No. 18 Michigan.

The win moved the No. 32 Hoosiers to 16-4 on the season and 3-0 in the Big Ten. Despite coming into the match as underdogs, IU’s players said they were
not fazed.

“I thought we were going to win going into today,” MacTaggart said. “We were all feeling confident as a team so it was good to get a team win, and hopefully we’re one step closer to winning the Big Ten.”

IU began the match by winning at all three doubles positions, including an 8-5 victory by Santiago Gruter and Jeremy Langer against Evan King and Jason Jung, the 18th-ranked pair in the country.

After the Hoosiers secured the doubles point, sophomore Isade Juneau kept IU’s momentum going with a quick 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 5 singles.

Juneau said it was important for the Hoosiers to play with the lead against
Michigan.

“It was a crucial start,” Juneau said. “We lost twice last year against this team, and we talked about it in the locker room before with coach, that we needed a big start because this team’s emotional. So if they take the lead, they’re going to stay on it, but if they go down at the start, they’re going to start being negative.”

After Michigan bounced back with a victory at the No. 6 spot, IU freshman Claes Goransson won at No. 4 by a 6-4, 6-3 score, setting the stage for MacTaggart’s
clincher.

IU coach Randy Bloemendaal said the wins by Goransson and Juneau in particular are evidence that the Hoosiers can pick up wins anywhere in the singles lineup.

“I’ve been saying all year long the level of my guys from one to eight is almost the same,” Bloemendaal said. “We’ve got a couple of guys that their upside on big days is a little bit better than other guys, but that’s about it.”

Bloemendaal said the win should put the Hoosiers in good position to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The team’s ultimate goal, however, is to win the automatic bid by winning the Big Ten championship, Bloemendaal said.

Bloemendaal said the Hoosiers are at an advantage because six of their 10 conference matches will be played at home.

“Scheduling is a little bit in our favor this year, and if we can continue to defend home court, we’ll be in good position,” Bloemendaal said. “But we’ve got to continue to come out and play tough. I think we’re capable of playing like this every day.”

In addition to the upset against Michigan, IU defeated No. 44 Michigan State on Friday and Vincennes University, the fourth-ranked junior college team, Sunday.