Indiana men’s tennis took care of business against Bellarmine University and Marquette University in Friday’s doubleheader, winning 5-0 and 6-1, respectively. The Hoosiers are now on a three-game win streak after a 4-0 victory in Wednesday's matchup against Ball State University. The Hoosiers now sit at 4-2 on the year.
Against Bellarmine, senior doubles pairing Ilya Tiraspolsky and Michael Andre won 6-1, and senior pairing Carson Haskins and Jagger Saylor clinched the doubles point with a 6-1 win.
The Hoosiers dominated the singles matches with just one court win going more than two sets. Andre added to Wednesday's singles win with a 6-2 and 6-3 set wins, and Saylor and sophomore Luc Boulier got their first singles wins of the season.
It was more of the same in the latter half of the games Friday, with another win that was nearly a shutout at 4-0 but played out to a 6-1 victory over Marquette. The victory was once again spearheaded with the doubles pairing of Tiraspolsky and Andre, winning their third doubles match in the last three games.
Indiana head coach Jeremy Wurtzman said Tiraspolsky and Andre have been successful this season, but he may switch around the pairings depending on the match.
“We know Ilya and Michael have a great team chemistry, and they’ve had so much success, but in doubles you’re trying to get two of the three matches, so whatever gives us the best chance to get the point is what we’re gonna try to focus on,” Wurtzman said post-match.
Wurtzman sat sophomore Sam Landau, the team’s go-to player on the top court, along with Andre in the singles matches against Marquette.
“It’s a lot of matches, this week with the mid-week match on Wednesday night; we’ve been practicing hard, and then today we had two matches, and Boise State is a very strong team on Sunday,” Wurtzman said. “Any opportunity we can get some other guys some matches, and also be able to sit some guys we need to be fresh and ready to go in the biggest matches.”
The absence of Landau and Andre led to players such as Saylor and freshman Facundo Yunis to step up and win on higher courts.
“It was great to see Facu get some experience at number one singles and win the way he did, I thought he played really well,” Wurtzman said. “It was great to see a lot of different guys out there and at higher spots and competing really well.”
After notching three wins this week, the Hoosiers have their toughest test ahead of them in Boise State University on Sunday. The Broncos finished last season 21-8 and already have experience against ranked opponents this season, including No. 1 Ohio State and No. 19 Michigan State.
“I think playing on our home courts, and having a great home court advantage is gonna be to our benefit,” Wurtzman said. “If we can come out with great energy in the doubles, and then find a way to get some leads early on in the singles, I think that’s gotta be our strategy because we don’t want to make them to feel too comfortable because they obviously have really good players throughout their lineup.”
The Sunday matinee against the Broncos will be held at 11 a.m. at the IU Tennis Center.
Follow reporter Matt Rudella (@mattrudellaIDS) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s tennis season.
