Hoosiers remain undefeated in Big Ten

The IU men’s tennis team defeated No. 72 Northwestern 5-2 Friday but lost 6-1 at No. 32 Louisville on Sunday, snapping the Hoosiers’ 12-match winning streak.

The win against Northwestern was the final home match of the season for the No. 23 Hoosiers (21-5, 8-0). Santiago Gruter, who was honored before the match as the team’s only senior, won matches at No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles.

“Any senior wants to finish their career with a doubles win, a singles win and a team win, of course,” Gruter said. “I had a lot of mixed feeling going into the match today, happy and a little sad that this is the last match, but definitely going out with a win means a lot to me.”

Gruter will leave the program as the Hoosiers’ career leader in doubles wins and is among the top 10 in singles wins. He said he’s glad the team is enjoying its best year during his final season but was quick to credit the other players he’s played with at IU.

“It’s just a continuation of four years of work,” Gruter said. “We’ve put in, as a team, so much time and so much effort during summers and during the offseason and during the fall just to be in the good position that we are right now. So seeing the team do well in my senior year, it’s definitely a great feeling, but it would not have happened without guys that had impact in our program during the previous years.”

The Hoosiers won all three doubles matches against the Wildcats to take an early 1-0 lead.

IU then won the first four singles matches to seal the 5-2 win.

IU sophomore Isade Juneau left the court first with a dominant 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 4. Juneau is now 7-1 in Big Ten play and has won nine consecutive matches, including the Hoosiers’ only singles victory against Louisville.

IU coach Randy Bloemendaal said Juneau’s recent success hasn’t been a surprise to those within the program. Juneau was having a promising fall season until mononucleosis and other sicknesses caused him to drop 25 pounds, Bloemendaal said.

“This has been a long time coming,” Bloemendaal said. “To be honest, in the fall, he was on the verge of always having the best fall. He’s definitely got potential to play anywhere in the lineup, and he’s starting to show it now.”

Freshman Dimitrije Tasic also picked up a win in his first Big Ten match, defeating Northwestern’s Eric Spector 6-2, 6-3 at No. 6.

In the match against Louisville (13-11), the Hoosiers lost two of three doubles matches to surrender the opening point. The Cardinals then won five of six singles matches to take the victory.

IU’s next match will be at 2 p.m. Friday at No. 2 Ohio State (25-2, 8-0), where one team will be walking away with its first Big Ten loss.