The Hoosiers returned to the tennis court this past weekend for the first time since last February, opening the season at the Badger Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin.
IU competed against Wisconsin, Nebraska and Minnesota from Thursday to Sunday. IU went 12-15 in singles and 8-5 in doubles.
“It was incredible to be competing again,” head coach Jeremy Wurtzman said. “Going into the tournament we just wanted to get as many matches in as we could.”
The Hoosiers kicked off the invitational Thursday night with a pair of doubles wins. Freshmen Ilya Tiraspolsky,Michael Andre and Jagger Saylor, along with junior Vikash Singh, took control of their matches to defeat Minnesota 6-4 and 6-2.
Indiana took on Minnesota in singles and Wisconsin in doubles on Friday. Graduate student William Piekarsky, sophomore Luka Vukovic, Saylor, Tiraspolsky and Andre all posted singles victories. Singh, senior Andrew Redding and junior Patrick Fletchall fell to the Golden Gophers.
Piekarsky, who elected to use his NCAA-granted fifth year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic prematurely ending the previous season, won his match 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
[Related: IU men’s tennis senior Will Piekarsky to use extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19]
The teams of Fletchall and Redding, Saylor and Singh, and Andre and Tiraspolsky defeated Wisconsin in doubles 6-4, 6-3 and 6-3.
Piekarsky and Fletchall won Saturday in singles against Wisconsin. The teams Fletchall and Redding, Andre and Tiraspolsky, and Piekarsky and Singh claimed victory against Nebraska in their doubles matches 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 and 6-2.
Against Nebraska, Redding, Singh, Vukovic, Andre and Fletchall won in singles. Tiraspolsky and Piekarsky fell to the Huskers to close out the invitational.
Although the rest of the Hoosiers’ spring schedule has not been released, Wurtzman expressed excitement for what’s to come.
“Talent-wise, this is one of our best teams and I’m looking forward to how they handle the season,” Wurtzman said.
