IU returns to courts, beats Middle Tennessee State

After a 10-day lay-off from competition, the No. 58 IU men’s tennis team returned to the courts and served up a 6-1 victory over a talented Middle Tennessee State team. \n“It’s really hard to carry a big lead as long as we did against a team ranked ahead of us,” said IU coach Randy Bloemendaal. \nThe Hoosiers jumped out to a big lead early against the 55th-ranked Blue Raiders, sealing the doubles point with an 8-4 victory by senior Michael McCarthy and freshman Santiago Gruter over Blue Raiders’ John Peers and Alex McCann. IU has won the doubles point in all seven of its matches this season. \nThe Hoosiers continued to build their lead early in singles play. IU senior Dara McLoughlin finished off his opponent Morgan Richard in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2. \n“I thought Dara played extremely well,” Bloemendaal said. \nGruter then knocked out McCann in similar fashion, 6-1, 6-0. It was the first win for Gruter in three matches. \nWith the Hoosiers already up 3-0, McCarthy defeated Joao Paoleillo in straight sets by a score of 6-1, 6-4. McCarthy’s singles victory gave the Hoosiers their sixth victory of the season. Their only loss this season was a 4-3 decision against Big Ten opponent Iowa, but have since outscored their opponents 10-4.\n“I thought there was a great deal of improvement since the Kentucky match,” Bloemendaal said. “We really stayed focused throughout the entire match.”\nIU will begin a month-long road trip next week when it heads to Alabama to face Troy University and the University of Alabama, then heads to face Charlotte and North Carolina State. The trip finishes in Texas where the team will face Southern Methodist University and Texas A&M.\nOn the road trip, the Hoosiers will play outdoors for the first time this season.\n“We can’t go outdoors to practice here so playing outdoors will be a whole new challenge on this trip,” Bloemendaal said. “We will have to bring a new strategy because the transition for indoors to outdoors certainly changes gameplay.”