Hoosiers drop 1st-round match to Commodores

The No. 38 IU men’s tennis team suffered a heartbreaker Saturday to the No. 29 Vanderbilt Commodores in a 4-3 loss on the campus of Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss. \nThe disappointment ended the Hoosiers hopes of continuing their run in the NCAA tournament regional. \nAfter sweeping the doubles competition and earning the match’s first point, the Hoosiers only managed to steal two points in six singles matches.\nWith the score even after five singles matches, the outcome came down to the No. 3 singles dual between Phillip Eilers and Vanderbilt’s Vijay Paul. After dropping the first set 7-6, Eilers fought back to win the second 6-4, only to lose in the third 7-6 (7). \nThe loss moved the Hoosiers to 16-10 on the season overall. It was their first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2001, and the first appearance for first-year head coach Randy Bloemendaal.\nThe No. 2 singles match finished first, as senior Dara McLoughlin lost in straight sets 6-3, 6-1. Freshman Lachlan Ferguson also went down in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.\nShortly after, senior Michael McCarthy evened the score in his three-set overtime thriller. The first two sets were decisive; Vanderbilt’s Alex Zotov took the second set 6-1 after McCarthy blew him away 6-1 in the first. Set three required overtime but in the end McCarthy pulled away with a 7-6(4) victory.\nMcCarthy sparked some momentum with his rousing victory as fellow senior Thomas Richter downed No. 53 Ryan Preston in a similar three-set overtime match. \nRichter’s hard-fought victory gave the Hoosiers a 3-2 lead with two singles matches yet to be determined.\nUnfortunately for IU, neither freshman Eilers nor Santiago Gruter were able to pull out a victory as they both fell in three sets, giving the Commodores a 4-3 win.\nThe match lasted a total of four hours and 53 minutes.