Two Hoosiers eliminated in All American Pre-Qualifier

Sophomore Maxime Armengaud and freshman Alex van Gils both advanced to the second round via bye at this weekend’s All American Pre-Qualifier before falling to their ranked opponents.

Armengaud, a native of Nice, France, gave No. 17 Santiago Villegas (Virginia) everything he could handle in the first round of competiton Saturday morning, but he ran out of gas late in the match.

Villegas outscored Armengaud 10-3 in the tiebreaker after the Hoosier won the second set 5-7.

Van Gils, who was playing in his first tournament of the season, fell in straight sets (6-4, 6-4) to No. 20 Zach Nichols of Texas Christian.

“I thought the guys competed hard. I thought they played real hard,” said IU coach Randy Bloemendaal. “With these younger guys, we are trying to feel our way out a little bit, and you have to come into a tournament like this and play at your highest level right away. Everybody is definitely good here.”

The Hoosiers aren’t done playing in one of the biggest tournaments of the fall season. Junior Lachlan Ferguson and sophomore Jeremy Langer begin play in the All American event today and will continue playing as long as they keep winning. The event wraps up Oct. 11.

Bloemendaal said Ferguson’s experience should help him react to the intense atmosphere.

“It’s a little bit of an uncomfortable environment when you first step into it,” he said. “You just have to find a way to step into the arena and play at your top level. I know Lachlan has seen those guys before, and it makes a difference.”