The IU men’s tennis team started out their season in strong fashion on Monday as it won both matches of a season-opening double-header against Ball State and Eastern Illinois.
In IU’s first season-opener at home in six years, the Hoosiers defeated the Ball State Cardinals 6-1 and the Eastern Illinois Panthers 7-0.
IU sophomore Bennett Crane, who won both of his singles matches, said he loved being able to start off the season on a high note in front of the home crowd.
“The home environment is really good, because we have really good fans, and they really bring a lot of energy,” said Crane.
Despite the energy from the fans, the Hoosiers didn’t immediately get out to the start they were hoping for in their first matches against Ball State, as the Cardinals quickly grabbed the lead, 1-0. Unwilling to let this influence the following singles matches, IU Coach Jeremy Wurtzman huddled his team together to share some words.
“I felt like the level that we could play at definitely could be higher, and we should expect that from ourselves,” said Wurtzman.
The team responded well, and the rest of the day went off without a hitch for the Hoosiers as IU won all six of their singles matches against Ball State. The Hoosiers then went on to defeat Eastern Illinois without dropping a single set.
The Hoosiers benefitted from steady play all around from their veterans and newcomers. Senior Raheel Maji won both of his singles matches with the same score of 6-1, 6-0. Crane and junior Antonio Cembellin also won both of their singles matches, with Crane completing his match against Eastern Illinois with a clean score of 6-0, 6-0.
“Anytime you beat a player from a school like this ‘love and love,’ it’s always good for your confidence,” said Crane. “Hopefully I can take that with a grain of salt moving forward and keep playing well throughout the season.”
IU freshman Brandon Lam closed out his first match as a Hoosier by fending off multiple match points by his Ball State opponent before ultimately winning the decisive match tiebreaker by a score of 14-12. Lam, freshman Andrew Redding and sophomore William Piekarsky all picked up their first Hoosier victories on Monday.
“They had a few jitters, butterflies that they worked through,” explained Wurtzman. “But it was great that they were able to push through and come out on the winning side.”
