Indiana men’s tennis faced off against both Wisconsin and No. 39 Nebraska on the road this past weekend.
The Hoosiers secured their first Big Ten Conference win Friday night outside at the Nielsen Tennis Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
The Badgers came into the affair with a record of 7-7 (2-4 Big Ten). Meanwhile, the Cream and Crimson held a record of 9-8 (0-6 Big Ten) but had lost their last eight matches.
The doubles play kicked off the match for both teams. It was essential for the Hoosiers to get off to a quick start as they struggled in doubles play throughout their losing streak, but Indiana failed to buck that trend. Wisconsin’s duo of freshman Edouard Aubert and sophomore Matthew Fullerton defeated Indiana sophomore Ben Pomeranets and freshman Braeden Gelletich. Junior Jip van Assendelft and graduate student Michael Andre beat the Wisconsin sophomore pairing of Oliver Olsson and Tomas Zlatohlavek 6-3.
With the doubles point coming down to whoever won on the No. 2 court, Wisconsin ultimately prevailed. Wisconsin’s freshman Patrik Meszaros and junior Michael Minasyan proved to be victorious by a final score of 6-3.
Singles play also did not start in the way Indiana hoped for, as Wisconsin’s Meszaros defeated Indiana’s Pomeranets 6-4, 6-2 on the No. 2 court. The victory by Meszaros pushed Wisconsin’s lead to 2-0, and once again, Indiana looked to be in a dire position.
This match, though, the Hoosiers evened the score with a victory by Gelletich over Wisconsin’s Fullerton, 7-5, 6-3, on the No. 4 court. Indiana junior Deacon Thomas defeated Wisconsin’s Aubert 6-2, 7-5 on the No. 3 court.
One major contributor for Indiana was van Assendelft, who came up huge for the Cream and Crimson.
Van Assendelft beat out Wisconsin’s Minasyan 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 to give the Hoosiers the lead, 3-2, in the match. Now, Indiana was only a point away from breaking their dreaded, month-long losing streak.
Looking to close out the match, Indiana freshman Karan Raghavendra was up to the task. Raghavendra defeated Fullerton 6-4, 6-3 on the No. 5 court to secure the victory for the Cream and Crimson.
The Hoosiers wrapped up a much-needed victory with a final score of 4-2. The victory was the first win in Big Ten play for the Hoosiers this season.
Now the Hoosiers looked ahead to Sunday for their matchup against Nebraska (11-6, 4-3 Big Ten). With the match on tap, doubles play commenced between the two Big Ten teams at Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.
To kick off doubles play, the Hoosiers put out their doubles pairing of van Assendelft and Andre on the No. 1 court, Scherer and Antonescu on the No. 2 court and Gelletich and Pomeranets on the No. 3 court.
However, Nebraska’s pairing of senior Calvin Mueller and junior Lars Johann defeated Scherer and Antonescu 6-3 on the No. 2 court. Along with that, redshirt freshman Colson Wells and junior Nikolay Sysoev beat Gelletich and Pomeranets 6-2 on the No. 3 court.
In their last match, the Hoosiers lost the doubles point to Wisconsin but rebounded and were able to take command of the match by winning multiple singles matches. However, against Wisconsin, the Cream and Crimson struggled mightily in singles play.
Nebraska’s Johann defeated Gelletich 6-1, 6-3 on the No. 4 court. With Nebraska leading 2-0, Indiana looked to dig themselves out of the hole they had built. This wouldn’t be the case, however, as Nebraska continued to apply pressure on the No. 2 court.
Senior Anton Shepp defeated Pomeranets 6-2, 6-4 on the No. 2 court, pushing Nebraska to within a point of victory.
The home-court advantage proved to be decisive for Nebraska as Finnish native and senior Roni Hietaranta won over Indiana’s Raghavendra 6-3, 6-0 on the No. 5 court.
The three straight victories in singles play were enough to seal the victory for Nebraska. After an eight-game losing streak that was snapped on Friday night, the Hoosiers fell to the Cornhuskers 4-0 on Sunday afternoon.
Looking ahead, Indiana will wrap up its three-game road trip as it faces rival Purdue at 3 p.m. Saturday in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Follow reporter Elakai Anela (elakai_anela) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s tennis season.
