IU Coach Jeremy Wurtzman said, regardless of results, IU men’s tennis is competing at the same level as other NCAA Tournament teams right now. His claim was validated Tuesday in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.
Although IU lost to unranked Texas Tech 4-3 during its spring break tour last week, the Hoosiers remained in the No. 35 spot in the team rankings and even have a singles player and a doubles pair ranked.
The Hoosiers were only one singles win from getting the win against the Red Raiders, a team that defeated them 6-1 last season, in San Diego on Thursday afternoon.
The close result of the matchup and level of competition was enough for the ITA to keep IU in the same spot it had been in the previous rankings.
IU sophomore Antonio Cembellin played well in a matchup with then-No. 63 Johan Cailleau of Texas Tech. After an admirable performance in a loss that included a 12-game second set, Cembellin returned to the singles ranked spots at No. 121 after not being ranked March 7.
Cailleau’s victory over IU’s skilled sophomore earned him a 21-spot rise in the rankings to No. 42.
Despite not playing together since Feb. 19 due to an injury, IU juniors Keivon Tabrizi and Raheel Manji stayed ranked in the top-80 doubles teams of the country at No. 70.
IU will return to its courts March 26 to face Detroit and No. 20 Northwestern, with 10 matchups remaining in the regular season.
Juan Alvarado
