Big Ten openers end in split results

IU Coach Randy Bloemendaal and the Hoosier men’s tennis team started their Big Ten Conference competition last weekend against Penn State and No. 5 Ohio State.

The Hoosiers started the weekend competing against the Nittany Lions by winning their second consecutive road match, winning 5-2. Bloemendaal said it would be important for the Hoosiers to win the doubles point in conference play and that is what they did against Penn State.

The No. 31-ranked IU duo of freshman Sam Monette and senior Isade Juneau started off by winning 8-3 against Penn State’s Russell Bader and Guanhua Chen. Freshman Daniel Bednarczyk and senior Josh MacTaggart sealed the doubles point by defeating C.J. Griffin and Bryan Welnetz with an 8-4 score. Juneau succeeded in singles play as well, beating Chris Young in two sets.

MacTaggart followed suit by defeating Tomas Hanzlik in two sets as well.

Monette’s win over Welnetz clinched the win for the Hoosiers. Bednarczyk gave IU another point with his win against Matt Barry.

The IU win on Friday put IU at a 9-8 record, its third consecutive win. After the Hoosiers won against Penn State, they traveled to Columbus, Ohio, in search of their third consecutive road win. IU lost in a 7-0 shutout against the Buckeyes. IU was unable to accomplish what it accomplished against Penn State in winning the doubles point. Ohio State won all three matches in doubles play and carried their momentum over to the singles competitions.

Five of the six Ohio State players were nationally ranked opponents and the Hoosiers could not slow them down.

Their highest nationally ranked player was No. 3 Peter Kobelt, who defeated Monette in a two-set match followed by a win over MacTaggert from No. 20 Blaz Rola. No. 124-ranked Devin McCarthy handled Juneau in a two set match as well.

The only Hoosier who found a way to win a set against the Buckeyes was Bednarczyk, who won the second set against No. 45 Chris Diaz after losing the first one. However, Bednarczyk could not finish the upset, losing the entire match in the third set.

Hunter Callahan and No. 37 Conner Smith finished the shutout for the Buckeyes by defeating IU’s two remaining players, freshman Chris Essick and junior Dimitrije Tasic.

The Hoosiers are currently 9-9 on the season with a 2-5 away record. Their Big Ten competition continues 2 p.m. Friday in Bloomington against Michigan State.

— Frank Bonner