After a recent stretch of tough matchups, Indiana men’s tennis took down Northwestern 4-1 on April 19 to clinch the sixth seed over the Wildcats in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament. The Hoosiers tallied their second win in a row and avoided the first round of the tournament.
After their April 14 match against Wisconsin, Indiana head coach Jeremy Wurtzman looked ahead to Northwestern as a must-win for the Hoosiers. He said the match had seeding implications for the conference tournament and an equal matchup, with the Wildcats ranked No. 69 and the Hoosiers ranked No. 70.
The Hoosiers rose to the occasion with a significant margin of victory, starting with a 2-0 doubles win from the pairings of seniors Jagger Saylor and Ilya Tiraspolsky (6-2) coupled with sophomore Luc Boulier and Freshman Facu Yunis (6-3). The duos are now a combined 15-4 on the season.
The Hoosiers converted the early lead with a 3-1 finish in singles thanks to two-set wins from the doubles winners of Yunis (6-2, 6-2), Tiraspolsky (6-2, 6-2) and Saylor (6-4,6-1). Freshman Nikola Kolyachev had a disappointing two-set loss (6-1, 6-1), while sophomores Sam Landau and Deacon Thomas couldn’t finish their matches after splitting a pair of sets.
With the damage already done with a win against Northwestern, it was time for the Hoosiers to have fun and swing away, according to Wurtzman.
The Hoosiers did not have said fun, as they were blanked in a 4-0 defeat.
The doubles point was lost in narrow fashion, with No. 35 Lucas Horve/Oliver Okonkwo beating Saylor/Tiraspolsky 7-5, and Boulier/Yunis losing 6-4.
Sometimes, the scoreboard doesn’t tell the whole story, and the singles matches show a perfect example of an outlier blowout for the Hoosiers with all but one loss going to three sets. Yunis fell down first, losing 6-3 in both sets, followed by Tiraspolsky and Thomas losing 6-3 and 7-3, respectively, in the third set to seal the defeat.
The Hoosiers now turn their focus to the Big Ten Tournament where they won’t have the easiest draw. They will take on a steep challenge on the road as the sixth seed, facing off against the No. 3 seed Michigan State Spartans. The Hoosiers will need to bring their A-game, with the Spartans currently ranked No. 19 in the country, headlined by the talented No. 9 Ozan Baris, who is 27-6 on the season. There’s no doubt that the Hoosiers will need a better performance than their last matchup with the Spartans, as they were bludgeoned to a 7-0 loss April 7.
The Hoosiers will look to turn the tide against Michigan State at 5:00 p.m. Friday at the MSU outdoor tennis courts in East Lansing, Michigan.
Follow reporter Matt Rudella (@mattrudellaIDS) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s tennis season.
