Hoosiers stay perfect, roll to two victories

Four home matches, four shutout victories for the IU men’s tennis team. \nThe Hoosiers dismantled Eastern Kentucky and Indiana State in the same fashion they did Cleveland State and Morehead State the week before. IU (4-0) defeated Eastern Kentucky and Indiana State 7-0 in both matches, losing only one doubles contest in four dual matches this past week. \n“I felt like we played a lot better than we did last week,” IU assistant coach Scott Linn said. “In doubles play, we brought a lot of energy.”\nIU dominated the doubles play, with an especially impressive performance from its No. 1 doubles pair, freshman Lachlan Ferguson and senior Thomas Richter, who defeated the No. 1 doubles pair from Eastern Kentucky, 8-4. \nThe Hoosiers switched up its doubles pairings in the second match against Indiana State, but the results were the same. \nIn the early match against Eastern Kentucky, the Hoosiers won five of six of their singles matches in straight sets. IU senior Michael McCarthy battled back and won his third set 6-3 to cap of the singles sweep for the Hoosiers. \n“I thought Ferguson played extremely well today,” Linn said. \nPersistence paid off for Ferguson, who battled throughout all three of his sets before a 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 victory. \n“I’d have liked to get off to a better start,” Ferguson said, “I got better as the match went on though.”\nThe latter match against Indiana State proved to be no different from the earlier matches, with the only exception coming in the slightly stronger competition from the Sycamores. \nBut Indiana State didn’t seem to faze the Hoosiers, who won all of their singles matches in straight sets and won their three doubles matches handily. \nThe competition will increase as the Hoosiers take a break from non-conference play. IU begins its Big Ten season on Feb. 2 in Iowa City against the Hawkeyes.\n“Our main focus this year has been finishing strong,” IU senior Dara McLoughlin said. “Now we’ve got to keep the momentum going.”