IU beats Gophers before losing to Fighting Illini

With its Big Ten tournament life on the line, IU upset Minnesota, a team it lost to on April 3.

IU advanced to the semifinals. The Illini defeated the Hoosiers, ending their stay in the Big Ten Championship tournament.

No. 6 IU beat No. 3 Minnesota in a 4-1 game on Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich. Winning the doubles point for the early lead, senior Peter Antons and freshman Maxime Armengaud won, 8-4.

“This weekend was pretty good,” freshman Stephen Vogl said. “We lost to Minnesota this year, but we fought our way through everything the time.”

No. 106 sophomore Lachlan Ferguson quickly gained a second point for the Hoosiers, dominating No. 58 Ishay Hadash with a 6-1, 6-2 defeat. Freshmen Stephen Vogl and Will Kendall won the final points for the Hoosier win, both in straight sets.

IU’s Big Ten Championship road ended Saturday with a 5-0 loss to second-seeded Illinois. The only win of the day came from doubles duo Antons and Armengaud in an 8-5 finish.

“We were supposed to play outdoors, but we had to move it indoors,” Vogal said. “That kind of changed our perspective on what we should do, our game plans. That’s still no excuse.”

Carrying three ranked singles players, Illinois won the three through six singles places for the decision.

“Illinois is a good team,” Vogl said. “If we would have stayed determined the whole match, we probably could have come out on top.”