Hoosiers finish weekend with wins across the board

The Hoosiers utilized balance and depth against Western Michigan and Toledo in a season-opening double-header Sunday, losing only one set all day on its way to a pair of 7-0 victories.

Junior Isade Juneau, who played in the top singles slot, continued his recent run, defeating Western Michigan’s Nadin Indre in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.

The path to victory, however, proved tougher than the score might indicate — Juneau stormed back from a 4-1 deficit to nip Indre, who reacted by repeatedly smacking his bag with his racket before burying his head in a sweat-drenched towel.

Juneau’s afternoon battle featured fewer moments of tension, as he defeated Toledo’s Tomas Stillman 6-3, 6-2, without ever trailing.

Senior Jeremy Langer played alongside Juneau in doubles action, and the tandem racked up two victories vastly different in nature.

Opposite Indre and Ross VanderPloeg in the morning encounter, they won 8-4; the afternoon match against Toledo’s Stillman and Leo Sarria required a late comeback and 7-4 tiebreak triumph to preserve the day’s perfect record.

Despite the close result, Juneau said he and Langer put forth a stronger effort in the second match.

“The first match was pretty slow,” Juneau said. “The second match we played a little bit better. We had more chances of winning and breaking them, and in the end we got the doubles point.”

Junior Josh MacTaggart, who tested his mettle at the second singles spot, had his afternoon cut short while leading 3-0 in his contest against Sarria.

Sarria rolled his ankle while chasing a deftly placed drop shot by MacTaggart and retired from play soon thereafter.

In earlier action Sunday against Western Michigan’s Pablo Olivarez, MacTaggart appeared to frustrate Olivarez by returning shot after shot, prompting his opponent, who hails from the Philippines, to display his linguistic aptitude.

Olivarez vented his frustration by frequently muttering aloud in Spanish and occasionally shouting “Allez!” — the French equivalent of “Go!”

Though MacTaggart later admitted to being confused by the switch, he ultimately vanquished Olivarez by a score of 6-2, 6-3, largely on the strength of an improved forehand.

“I’ve been working on [my forehand] a lot in the off-season, trying to use it as a weapon,” MacTaggart said. “I think I was using it pretty well today to run the guy around.”

Seniors Stephen Vogl and Will Kendall combined to orchestrate an 8-2 victory against Western Michigan and an 8-5 one in their match against Toledo on Sunday.

At the five and six spots in singles play, both Hoosiers also enjoyed success — neither dropped a set, leading into Tuesday’s face off with Kentucky in a
road battle.

“[Today] was a gauge for where we’re at both mentally and physically heading into the Kentucky match,” Kendall said. “I think we passed the test.”

Though a Hoosier victory against Western Michigan had long been decided, the day did provide its share of drama.

Sophomore Dimitrije Tasic and Western Michigan’s Ross VanderPloeg traded winners and engaged each other in extended rallies for two sets and a tense tiebreak, with Tasic eventually emerging the victor, 4-6, 6-2, 12-10.

With the eyes of both teams and fan bases alike transfixed on the waning moments of the contest, despite the outcome having been long decided, Tasic fought off match points on two separate occasions before ultimately prevailing — on VanderPloeg’s double fault.

Newcomer Alastair Barnes, a transfer from Tulsa, fared well in his debut for the Hoosiers, teaming up with fellow countryman MacTaggart for a pair of wins in doubles play as well as defeating both opponents in singles action.

The duo of Barnes and MacTaggart looked at ease with one another, often displaying more emotion than the other Hoosier duos on its way to triumphs of 8-1 and 8-4 against the Western Michigan and Toledo twosomes, respectively.

Barnes also featured in the day’s last action, a 7-1 tiebreak victory following a knotted second set opposite Toledo’s Bryant Dudzik.

In doing so, Barnes, who won the match’s first set 6-3, ensured that his first official day of competition in Bloomington would end blemish-free.