Hoosiers take 2 of 3 weekend matches, but fall to No. 2 Ohio State

As Meat Loaf once crooned, “Two out of three ain’t bad.”

The No. 21 Hoosiers will likely take little solace in the schmaltz king's advice, however, as a trio of home matches produced wins against Penn State and IU-Purdue University Indianapolis but failed to provide the victory they coveted, an upset of No. 2 Ohio State.

IU defeated Penn State and IUPUI by identical 7-0 margins, but the two blowouts bookended a 6-1 loss Sunday afternoon to Ohio State. The setback, the second of the year at the hands of the Buckeyes, drops the Hoosiers to 2-1 in the Big Ten and 14-4 overall.

“It was our time, and I don’t think we did what we needed to do to prepare for that situation,” IU Coach Randy Bloemendaal said. “We can execute better, and we’re going to get better, but inevitably, we’ve got to see ourselves as champions. We didn’t play even close to the level we’re capable of playing, and it comes down to having the right mentality.”

After surrendering the doubles point as all three Buckeyes tandems prevailed, the Hoosiers split a pair of matches with the Buckeyes at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots, advancing the score to a 2-1 deficit.

Senior Stephen Vogl made quick work of No. 107 Ille van Engelen, prevailing 6-2, 6-3 to defeat a ranked opponent for the first time this season, while sophomore Dimitrije Tasic fell to No. 79 Devin McCarthy 6-1, 6-1.

Needing to win three of the remaining four encounters to reach the four-point threshold and end the Buckeyes’ 81-match conference winning streak, IU fought the Buckeyes tooth and nail, repeatedly forcing games to deuce, but each time, IU failed to seize significant momentum.

“There’s never going to be a time where our guys don’t fight hard on the court,” Bloemendaal said. “But we need to compete with the lead, search out leads, get on top of our opponent and just outcompete the guy across the net. We did a very average job of that overall today.”

Supporters who had turned out to soak in the sun and cheer on the Hoosiers at the season’s first outdoor home match were given little to cheer about.

The Buckeyes quickly squeezed much of the drama out of the affair by snatching the first set in each singles contest apart from Vogl’s — and did so without the aid of tiebreaks.

Ultimately, a win proved elusive, as Vogl’s victory represented the only Hoosier triumph of the encounter. About half an hour after Vogl bested van Engelen, a quartet of matches ended nearly simultaneously, all in Ohio State’s favor, and sealed the outcome.

All four matches were decided in straight sets, as No. 12 Chase Buchanan defeated junior Isade Juneau 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 singles; No. 6 Blaz Rola dispatched junior Josh MacTaggart at No. 2 by a 6-1, 6-2 margin; No. 46 Peter Kobelt beat senior Jeremy Langer 6-3, 6-1; and Connor Smith overcame senior Will Kendall 6-2, 6-4 at the six slot.

On Friday, as the specter of the Buckeyes’ visit to Bloomington loomed large, a match against an unranked Penn State squad set up like a classic trap match for the Hoosiers.

Unable to guard against his eagerness to face Ohio State at home, Vogl even admitted he might have underestimated the threat the Nittany Lions presented.

“I personally kind of looked over this match,” Vogl said. “I just wanted to move through it and get ready for Ohio State.”

There was to be no unforeseen stumble, however, as Vogl and IU treated fans of the cream and crimson — among them his parents, who were visiting for the weekend from his native Connecticut — to a 7-0 taming of the Nittany Lions.

“It’s always good to see them,” Vogl said of his familial support, “but it’s kind of frustrating now and then hearing them when I miss a shot. I haven’t had to deal with that since juniors, but it is what it is.”

The Hoosiers were buoyed against Penn State by the bottom of the lineup, as Vogl, Tasic and Kendall all took their matches in straight sets at No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively.

Indeed, the Hoosiers showed few signs of a lack of focus at any spots on the day, winning all nine battles by sweeping both doubles and singles play.

Contrary to recent form, it was the No. 2 tandem of MacTaggart and junior Alastair Barnes initially leading the charge for the doubles point, as the English duo jumped out to a 5-0 lead.

On the back of their sizzling start, MacTaggart and Barnes, who had lost five of seven matches alongside one another heading into the contest, closed out C.J. Griffin and Christopher Hasyn 8-5 to register the first point of the day for the Hoosiers.

Moments earlier, Juneau and Langer had defeated Taylor Cohen and Bryan Welnetz by the same margin at the No. 1 spot. Concluding the sweep in doubles action for the cream and crimson were seniors Vogl and Kendall, who vanquished Chris Young and Russel Bader 8-7 (7-2).

The Hoosiers continued to ride a wave of momentum into singles play as all six players recorded six first-set wins and, ultimately, six victories.

Prior to the match, Kendall preached consistency and focus on the task at hand.

“No one ever said a Big Ten match was easy, and this one will be no exception,” Kendall said. “If we underestimate Penn State, we’ll go down in flames.”

Kendall, though, appeared at ease throughout his tussle with the Nittany Lions’ Young, surrendering only a solitary game en route to a 6-0, 6-1 drubbing at No. 6 singles.

Only Juneau and Langer dropped sets on the day, but both Canadians willed themselves to victory in contested third stanzas.

Bloemendaal said he was extremely encouraged by the display, predicting a highly-contested clash between his Hoosiers and the Buckeyes.

“I don’t think we could be in a better position,” Bloemendaal said after Friday’s victory. “We won 6-1 on road (against Purdue), now 7-0 at home against a Penn State team that has been having some good results. I think this is where we want to be. I expect to Ohio State to play their best match, but they’re in Bloomington, and we’re going to play well.”

Just 48 hours later, following a 7-0 Sunday evening victory against IUPUI, Bloemendaal’s tone, while still optimistic, had switched to one of urgency.

With the Hoosiers facing Louisville, Michigan and Michigan State in the coming week, Bloemendaal called upon his seniors to fight complacency and raise their game to bounce back in time for another crucial stretch of matches.

“They have to make a decision whether they’re going to go after this or they’re going to settle for where they’re at,” Bloemendaal said. “Today, we didn’t look like a team that was going after championships with our leaders, which is what I want to see.”