Indiana men’s tennis closed out a busy weekend with a Sunday double header against No. 34 Illinois and Saint Louis. After falling to Northwestern Friday evening Indiana split Sunday’s double header.
The first match of the day came against Illinois and, for just the fourth time this season, Indiana lost the doubles point. The Illini won at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles to take an early 1-0 lead.
“I thought we didn’t come out sharp,” head coach Jeremy Wurtzman said after the match. “We just weren’t at our best.”
The Illini continued their dominance in singles play, winning at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 singles to complete the 4-0 sweep of the Hoosiers.
“We knew it was going to be a tough match,” Wurtzman said. “I would have liked to see us battle more than we did.”
Roughly two hours later, Indiana was back on the court to play Saint Louis. In the second match of the day, the Hoosiers came out strong in doubles play. Fifth-year senior and junior Ilya Tiraspolsky improved to 9-2 together after a retirement from Saint Louis when the Hoosier duo led 4-1.
At No. 3, junior Jagger Saylor and freshman Luc Boulier joined forces for the first time this year. The duo wasted no time winning their first match together, taking it 6-1 and earning the doubles point for the Hoosiers.
“It was a lot of tennis this weekend,” Wurtzman said of the new pairing. “We gave certain guys some rest and (Saylor and Boulier) stepped up and won a big match.”
In singles play, the Hoosiers were dominant. Fletchall won 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1 for his 10th singles win of the year. That gave the Hoosiers a 2-0 lead.
“He’s been great for us all year,” Wurtzman said. “On and off the court, he’s been a leader for the team.”
The Hoosiers closed out the 4-0 sweep of the Billikens with wins at No. 3 and No. 5 from Saylor and freshman Ekansh Kumar.
After going 1-2 this weekend, the Hoosiers now sit at 12-8 and 1-2 in conference play.
Indiana is back on the road next weekend for two matches. At 6 p.m. on Friday, Indiana will take on Nebraska before battling Wisconsin at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
