Men's tennis team wins one of two matches

The No. 53 IU men’s tennis team competed in three matches over the weekend, losing two out of the three.

Competition started for the Hoosiers in Champaign, Ill., where they lost 6-1 to the No. 31 Fighting Illini. IU’s only point came from senior Josh MacTaggart as he beat Illinois’ Bruno Abdelnour in three sets.

The two competitions the Hoosiers played on Sunday were not just typical home matches. Sunday was a special day for two players in particular, senior Isade Juneau and MacTaggart, because it was IU’s senior day.

They started off their senior day with a match against Northwestern. Although Juneau was able to beat Sidarth Balaji in two sets, the Hoosiers lost the match with a 6-1 score.

IU Coach Randy Bloemendaal said it was a tough senior day at first.

“You don’t want to see a lot of senior days like that,” Bloemendaal said after the loss. “I feel bad for them to kind of go through that kind of a senior day, but we still have another match ahead of us so hopefully we finish it off a different way.”

IU was still able to get one win on Sunday against Vincennes, where they performed a 7-0 shutout. Both seniors won their singles and doubles competitions.

Bloemendaal was able to reflect on what the two seniors meant to the team but said he did not want to reflect too much because the season is not over yet.

“They are both kind of mini versions for what the program has done for the last four years,” he said. “I think they’ve help set the standard for going out and winning consistently for the team, and both of them have been able to win a lot of big matches in their careers.”

MacTaggart already held the title for most singles victories in IU history before stepping into senior day. His doubles victory against Vincennes tied the record at 102 for most doubles victories by an IU tennis player.

Both Juneau and MacTaggart can say their last home competition as a Hoosier athletes was a victory.

“It is definitely a weird feeling to be done here,” Juneau said. “But I am happy with all I have done here and I would not change anything.”

Juneau said he will definitely keep on playing after college.

However, MacTaggart said he is not sure if he will pursue a tennis career after college.

“It’s been great, college tennis has been awesome,” MacTaggart said. “But I have to make a decision as to weather I want to keep playing tennis or if I want to try and get a real job.”

Teammates such as freshman Sam Monette are happy for the two seniors but said it is a bittersweet experience.

“Those two guys were a really big inspiration for all of us throughout the year since we are a really young team,” Monette said. “Isade is one of my best friends so it is really hard to see him leave like that.”