Men’s tennis travels to Iowa City for Big Ten Indoor Championships

A string of semifinal appearances ushered in the new season in impressive fashion last weekend in Knoxville, Tenn.

Less than a week later, the IU men’s tennis team travels to Iowa City, Iowa, for the Big Ten Men’s Indoor Tennis Championships, hoping to muster another strong showing and continue to build on its early momentum.

The tournament starts Friday and lasts through Monday.

The success of last weekend was capped by Wednesday’s announcement that Josh MacTaggart was named Big Ten Player of the Week. MacTaggart fought off dropped sets in multiple matches to advance to the semifinals in singles play. He also reached the same stage in doubles play alongside fellow Hoosier Stephen Vogl.

MacTaggart has a tremendous record at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, having won the singles title in 2009 and reached the semifinals last year.

Junior Isade Juneau also fared well in last year’s edition of the event, advancing to the round of 16.

The same six players that battled foes at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship last weekend will participate in the event, which will feature two flights in both singles and doubles competition. The “A” flight of each will consist of the top individuals or teams. Additional team members will comprise the “B” flight.

The Hoosiers bring a distinctly international flare to the Hawkeye State. Of the six players representing IU, seniors Will Kendall and Stephen Vogl hail from the United States.

Two Canadians, Juneau and senior Jeremy Langer, will compete for the cream and crimson. They will be joined by Serbian sophomore Dimitrije Tasic and British junior Josh MacTaggart.

For seniors Kendall, Langer and Vogl, this weekend will mark their last run at a singles or doubles crown at the conference’s Indoor Championships, but not their last trip to Iowa City. The team will return for an away match against the University of Iowa on Apr. 6, 2012.