IU ends season with 1 win, 1 loss

The weekend began with a blowout of Michigan State, but ended abruptly Sunday when the No. 58 IU men's tennis team dropped a heartbreaker to No. 39 Michigan, 4-3, on a day in which three Hoosiers -- two starters and one manager -- culminated their careers as IU tennis stars in Bloomington.\n"My last match was very enjoyable," said senior captain Neil Kenner, who defeated Mike Peretz 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 4 singles spot. "I couldn't have asked for better conditions or better fans. Everybody on the team fought really hard and everyone did the right things, it just didn't work out in our favor."\nJunior David Bubenicek and sophomore Michael McCarthy became the third and fourth 20-win Hoosiers this season with victories at the No. 5 and No. 2 positions, respectively. Along with senior Dmytro Ishtuganov and sophomore Dara McLoughlin, IU has its most 20-win players since the 1999-2000 season, when the program had five. But senior festivities were cut short Sunday when the Hoosiers fell to 16-9 overall and 5-5 in Big Ten play.\n"Our guys fought their heart out," IU coach Ken Hydinger said. "Sometimes you do everything right and it doesn't go your way, but that's part of the game."\nFive of Michigan's nine losses have come at the hands of teams ranked among the top 11 nationally. Despite losing the doubles point quickly, the Hoosiers rebounded against the Wolverines in the singles portion. Five out of the six singles matches went to three-sets. Bubenicek and McLoughlin each earned arduous victories at the No. 2 and 3 spots, respectively, and Kenner won the only two-set affair Sunday. \nIshtuganov couldn't finish his Hoosier career in Bloomington on a high note, dropping a three-set match to Michigan's No. 1 singles player Brian Chung, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.\n"It's a tough feeling to know that I'm not going to be stepping on these courts anymore," Ishtuganov said. "The match itself was exciting -- I didn't play my best tennis, but I fought hard. I laid it on the line and gave my best effort."\nMcCarthy lost at the No. 5 slot, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, against Peter Aarts, and left the match up to junior Arnaud Roussel. After losing the first set 7-6 (0), the Bordeaux, France-native fought back to take the second set, 6-3. Both No. 6 singles players exchanged injury timeouts thanks to cramps, setting the stage for a dramatic third and decisive set. Unfortunately for the cream and crimson, Roussel dropped the last set 7-5.\n"Arnaud had his guy beat," Hydinger said. "If he didn't cramp there, we win that match. Arnaud was mentally tougher than that guy and he was more disciplined."\nThe loss, however, doesn't rattle the Hoosiers' confidence. It was important to see a raucous crowd cheer the players on, especially for the last match of some Hoosiers' careers, Kenner said.\n"The fans made a huge difference today," Kenner said. "The same guys that made me stay out late on Friday made up for it by coming out and supporting the whole team today."\nThursday the team will travel to Minneapolis for the Big Ten Championships in hopes to secure a spot in the NCAA Championships in May.