Indiana men’s tennis needed everything to knock off a juggernaut like No. 19 Michigan State, and that was not the case April 29, as the Hoosiers are headed home for the season after losing 4-1 in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals.
The doubles point was a forecast for the rest of the match, with the Hoosiers losing on two courts. Seniors Jagger Saylor and Ilya Tiraspolsky lost 6-3, followed by sophomore Sam Landau and fifth-year Carson Haskins fighting to draw a tiebreaking set, where they unraveled to a 7-1 loss.
After a strong 11-3 start with Tiraspolsky, senior Michael Andre appears to have lost his spot in the pairing to Saylor.
The singles courts did not go much better, with losses on three of the top four courts to clinch the win for the Spartans. Landau continued his losing ways with 6-4 and 6-1 set losses to put the punctuation mark on a disappointing second half of the season.
Similar to the April 12 loss against Nebraska, freshman Facundo Yunis was the lone Hoosier to pick up a singles win, grinding out a third set win in 6-2 fashion. The freshman gives the Hoosiers something to build off next year and beyond, as he began to heat up toward the end of the season, closing with a 4-1 record in the last five matches.
Andre and Saylor were unable to pick up a win in what appears to be their last collegiate match, with Andre losing 6-3 and 6-2 in the second and third sets after winning the first set 6-3. Saylor also took his opponent to three sets, where he lost 6-2.
With the Hoosiers’ other two courts also going to three sets before ending unfinished — including Tiraspolsky being down 6-5 and sophomore Deacon Thomas deadlocked at 4-4 — it’s possible the match could’ve been a lot closer with some stronger performances from Andre and Saylor in the third set.
The Spartans went into this match taking the Hoosiers lightly, as they rested their top two players in No. 9 Ozan Baris and No. 50 Ronnie Hohmann. The rest didn’t pay off for the Spartans, as they were eliminated by in-state rival Michigan the next day.
Although the Hoosiers will be losing a strong crop of seniors, there is a lot to look forward to in 2025.
Yunis continued to trend upward throughout the season, and Landau was named first team All-Big Ten as just a sophomore, with a bright future still ahead of him after flirting with a top-50 ranking during the season. With a potential fifth year for Andre and the hopeful progression of freshman Nikola Kolyachev and sophomore Luc Boulier, the Hoosiers will return a strong young core to build off an encouraging 2024 season that featured their best record since 2015.
Follow reporter Matt Rudella (@mattrudellaIDS) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s tennis season.
