The fans in the stands Sunday at the IU Tennis Center witnessed the endurance of the No. 35 IU men's tennis team on full display when the Hoosiers played two games in the same day.
Although the Hoosiers won just one of two matches played, IU played competitively in both.
IU lost 4-2 in a close match against No. 20 Northwestern and, after a short resting period, took on unranked Detroit and came out on top by a final of 4-1.
“We did not play our best doubles against Northwestern,” IU Coach Jeremy Wurtzman said. “We were close. Detroit came out swinging away. It was a very competitive match against them as well.”
IU began the doubles play against Northwestern with well-coordinated play among its pairs. At positions one and two doubles the Hoosiers started well by securing serving games and staying close on the scoreboards.
After a few games the Wildcats were able to take a lead at position one and also capitalize at No. 3 doubles to win the doubles point.
In singles play, IU had trouble settling in at positions one, two, four and five and lost the first sets in each of them.
Only senior Matthew McCoy and freshman Zac Brodney were able to win the first set of their matches. Both also went on to win the second sets, which put IU briefly in the lead against Northwestern.
Junior Keivon Tabrizi, sophomore Antonio Cembellin and freshman Bennett Crane each had close second sets, but none was able to make a comeback.
After Crane’s match ended the Wildcats had clinched the match, and decided to not continue the matchup at No. 5 singles, where sophomore Oliver Sec had won his second set and was in a close battle in the third.
“Going into the singles we really made it a very difficult match for them, which I was proud of,” Wurtzman said. “We need to find a way against a team of that caliber and ranking to come through and get that fourth point.”
After the matchup against Northwestern, IU took a short break and went on to face Detroit.
Despite having fresh legs, the Titans were not able to contain the strong Hoosier side that was seeking a victory on the heels of a close defeat.
“It is always tough to play these kind of teams,” Brodney said. “They have nothing to lose, they come in and we just have to stick to our guns and keeping fighting until the end.”
IU came was victorious in doubles play with wins at doubles two and three. Sec and freshman Payam Ahmadi secured the point with a 7-4 win in the tiebreak at No. 3 doubles.
Ahmadi went on to win his singles match at position six in straight sets 6-2, 6-1, and similarly junior Keivon Tabrizi won in two sets 6-1, 6-2.
Brodney came back from being down in the second set 5-2 and won 7-5 to secure his singles match and give the Hoosiers their 10th win of the season.
Up next for IU will be Michigan and Michigan State at home, where Brodney said he expects to see a large crowd coming out for both games.
“It is going to be the same sort of battle,” Brodney said. “We are going to try to get this building packed and just give it our all.”
