IU NCAA tournament run ends with loss to UK

A day after ousting Louisville and etching its name in IU lore as one of the most successful teams in program history, the Hoosier men’s tennis squad was condemned to the same fate that befell its basketball brethren earlier this year, as Kentucky advanced at Indiana’s expense in the NCAA Tournament.

In a match which mirrored the rivalry’s other encounter earlier this season, a 7-0 setback in January, the Hoosiers were defeated by the Wildcats, 4-0, failing to record a single point despite threatening on several occasions to spoil championship-chasing, sixth-ranked Kentucky’s day in front of a partisan crowd in Lexington, Ky.  

The loss capped a bittersweet weekend, and season, for IU.  The Hoosiers not only won a match in the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in school history and first time since 2000, but also finally overcame Louisville, a source of perennial pain in recent years, with a 4-2 triumph against the Cardinals Friday afternoon.  

After Saturday’s season-ending defeat, though, the cream and crimson, who had harbored hopes of sending seniors Will Kendall, Stephen Vogl, and Jeremy Langer off with a deep postseason run, will have to settle for a first-weekend exit from 2012’s field of 64.

Though part of a losing effort, trio’s final excursion onto the court was tense even from the first service of doubles action.  In their last appearance as the Hoosiers’ No. 3 duo, Kendall and Vogl nearly surmounted a 6-0 deficit against Tom Jomby and Alejandro Gomez, capturing five straight games before finally surrendering an 8-6 decision.  

“We got off to a horrific start in doubles and were not taking care of our service games,” Kendall said.  “Then we started playing with a much greater sense of urgency and began mounting a comeback.  We had a break point to get it back on serve but failed to capitalize.”

The defeat, coupled with a victory by Eric Quigley and Panav Jha, the Wildcats’ No. 1 and national No. 7 tandem, against Langer and fellow Canadian Isade Juneau, meant Kentucky had seized the doubles point and a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.

“Losing the doubles point hurt us because Kentucky is a very talented singles team, so we knew taking four of six would be a challenge,” Kendall said.  “Still, though, after the doubles Coach got in our ear and we regrouped; I thought we had a chance to win on every court [in singles].”

While Quigley quickly jumped out to a commanding lead against Juneau at No. 1, the Hoosiers’ only ranked individual netter, No. 78 Josh MacTaggart, stormed out to an equally impressive start at No. 2 against the country’s 15th-ranked player, Frenchman Alex Musialek, taking the first set in perfect 6-0 fashion.  

“It says a lot about Josh’s character and determination, but that’s nothing new for him,” Kendall said.  “He’s been the rock for us all year.”

From No. 3 to No. 6, the quartet of other matches simultaneously under way, whose opening sets the rivals split at two apiece, appeared headed for much more contested outcomes.  No. 22 Anthony Rossi overcame a dropped marathon third game to outlast Langer, 6-4, at three, Vogl bested No. 80 Jomby by the same score at four, Kendall defeated No. 111 Alejandro Gomez, 7-5, at five, and Grant Roberts eked a 6-4 triumph against Friday’s hero, Dimitrije Tasic.  

After Quigley polished off a 6-1, 6-0 waxing of Juneau to put Kentucky up 2-0, an effort IU Coach Randy Bloemendaal praised as “as well as you can play,” the Hoosiers, who now required four victories from the remaining five matches, were left with a negligible margin of error.

The margin was exceeded — and, by extension, the season ended — when Tasic dropped the second set to Roberts, 6-3, thus succumbing in the battle at No. 6 and pushing the Wildcats past the necessary four-point threshold.  Earlier, Gomez had battled against Kendall to even the score at one set each, and Jomby had boosted Kentucky to a 3-0 lead with a late charge against Vogl, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.  

In a post-match interview, Jomby attributed his triumph at least in part to what he viewed as Vogl’s faltering endurance, but Kendall dismissed the reasoning.

“I don’t agree with his assessment,” Kendall said.  “Vogl is in as good if not better shape than anyone he plays.  I was on the court so I couldn’t really tell what happened, but it obviously just came down to a couple points here and there at the end.”

Despite the disappointing fashion in which the season concluded from a Hoosier point of view, Kendall said the cream and crimson have plenty to be proud of now—and excited for in the future.  

“Although we fell a little bit short of our goal of reaching the Sweet 16, we did make steps forward as a program,” Kendall said.  “We’re proud to have produced the winningest season and second NCAA win in program history; it’s something that the team can use as momentum to build on next year.”