IU did not manage to register a win during the weekend at North Carolina, but the Hoosiers were still able to gain some insight into their own ability.
“There’re still positives from the weekend,” IU Coach Jeremy Wurtzman said. “We got to play two very good team, and I wouldn’t say we were that far off, but I would definitely say that we got to be better with getting those key points.”
No. 50 IU lost its season opener 4-1 to No. 10 North Carolina on Saturday and was defeated 4-2 by No. 35 Drake on Sunday.
IU was unable to register any points in the doubles match against North Carolina. Senior Samuel Monette put a point on the board for the Hoosiers when he defeated junior Brayden Schnurr 7-6, 6-3 in the No. 1 match in the singles category.
“I trained with Brayden for two years and played him about five times in the juniors in Canada,” Monette said. “I could see that he was really stressed out because he never beat me before, and I think that helped me out in a tight match.”
The Hoosiers fared a little better in the doubles category Sunday. Drake’s pair of freshman Vinny Gillespie and sophomore Bayo Phillips beat Monette and senior Daniel Bednarczyk 6-3 in the No. 1 doubles match; however, sophomore Raheel Manji and freshman Afonso Salgado tied the score when they beat sophomore Ben Stride and freshman Ben Clark 6-3 in the No. 3 match.
The No. 2 match then became the deciding factor. Senior Chris Essick and junior Stefan Lugonjic were close but were beaten 7-6 (4) by senior Ben Lott and Calum MacGeoch.
“When the difference is small, you got to be able to take those points when given the opportunity,” Wurtzman said. “We were up 5-2 and Drake did a good job of fighting their way back and staying in the match.”
Monette followed up his victory in the singles category Saturday by putting another point on the board for the Hoosiers as he beat Lott with a score of 6-3, 7-6 in the No. 1 singles match.
“My performance was good,” Monette said. “It’s nice to pick up some wins and beat some really good players, but the wins are only good for my record. What really matters the most is that the team wins, and it’s not nice to start the season 0-2.”
Junior Matthew McCoy then earned a second point for the Hoosiers when he beat Clark 6-4, 6-4 in the No. 5 singles match.
The weekend’s outing to North Carolina was part of the ITA Kickoff Opening Weekend, and the Hoosiers will play their next four matches in Bloomington.
The Hoosiers will be host to a double header Saturday when they face VCU at 11 a.m. and Marquette at 6 p.m.
“We are motivated to go play against them,” Wurtzman said. “We will definitely remember the feeling of defeat this weekend and use that as motivation against two very good teams.”
