Monette comes away with victory in Louisville Invitational

In the final tournament of the fall season for the IU men’s tennis team, sophomore Sam Monette and freshman Stefan Lugonjic traveled to Louisville to compete in the Louisville Invitational.

Lugonjic advanced to the quarterfinals while Monette was able to win the Invitational with a victory over Luis Elizondo of Louisville, whom he defeated in straight sets.

“The expectation is always there to win,” Assistant Coach Patric Hynes said. “We knew going in it was going to be a good tournament and he would have an opportunity to win.”

Monette said serves were were more important in the match than normal because the tournament was indoors.

Monette had to defeat two players from Louisville who had a vocal cheering section behind them.

“The Louisville guys that he played were really his toughest matches,” Hynes said. “The final was a very pro-Louisville crowd especially.”

Coach Hynes said Monette controlled his emotions well during the Invitational.

“He did a really good job of managing his emotions,” Hynes said. “He got in a couple sticky situations, but he was able to do a good job of remaining calm.”

Monette’s composure may help him lead a team with just one senior on its roster in the Big Ten season.

“My main goal is to be a good leader for the younger players,” Monette said. “I also want to help them through tough moments and help them help the team out as much as they can.”

Monette said he is looking to build upon a very successful freshman campaign that saw him finish 26-10.

“I would like to be top 10 in the country and also to be undefeated at home,” Monette said.

This victory wrapped up a successful fall season for the Hoosiers.

“Dimitrije Tasic made the finals at the Big Ten’s a few weeks ago,” Monette said. “And now with me winning this tournament it will give not just me a lot of confidence, but our entire team has a lot of confidence.”

Hynes also said Monette’s victory can propel the team into a successful Big Ten season in the spring.

“We’ve had some good results this fall, and since this is the last tournament of the fall, I think it really gives us some good momentum going into the spring,” Hynes said.

Hynes and Monette both said the team has worked hard to improve throughout the fall.

“The whole team has been working hard, not just Sam,” Hynes said. “That’s really helping to push this whole group forward.”

Follow reporter Michael Hughes on Twitter @MichaelHughes94.