Coming back home after its second consecutive loss, Indiana men’s tennis started its Sunday playing a 5-1 Middle Tennessee State University team.
It looked bleak to start, after the first match of the day saw redshirt junior Facundo Yunis and his doubles three partner sophomore Braeden Gelletich go out quickly 3-6. But doubles teammates graduate student Michael Andre and sophomore Matteo Antonescu swung the momentum back. The pair won 6-3, leaving it up to the Hoosiers’ doubles one squad to earn the first point of the day.
In a back-and-forth match between redshirt junior Sam Landau and senior Jip van Assendelft traded serves and volleys continuously throughout a 6-6 set. In the tie break, it was all the same. The duo hit clutch shots, and a 7-5 tie breaker win gave Indiana its first point of the day heading into singles play.
If the Hoosiers wanted some rest before their second match of the day, they needed to wrap up their first three matches swiftly. At singles three, Andre continued his momentum from the doubles match. He dominated his matchup, winning 6-1, 6-3. Van Assendelft wasn’t as successful. He’d just completed a long set at doubles and was set to play singles one while Landau was resting. He won a set, but fell in three sets by a score of 3-6, 6-3, 3-6.
Middle Tennessee State earned its first point, putting the pressure back on the Hoosiers, who needed two to end the match. But thanks to singles four Gelletich, who won sets 2 and 3, and singles five junior Ben Pomeranets, who needed a third set win to close it out after falling in a second set tiebreak, the Hoosiers got their first win in the last three weeks. This left Yunis and senior Deacon Thomas’s matches unfinished.
To finish off their weekend, the Hoosiers took on a struggling 3-4 Toledo team. This match was much shorter than the last. Yunis and Gelletich, at the doubles two spot this time, handled business with a 6-2 victory while doubles three teammates Landau and Antonescu had a very similar match, dominating 6-2. That gave the Hoosiers the early doubles point and left the doubles one match unfinished.
On the singles side, it was more of the same. Toledo was no match for the Hoosiers. Redshirt freshman Aidan Atwood, whose legs were fresh, looked to be in a whole other league than his opponent, taking him down 6-0, 6-0. Sophomore Karan Raghavendra, who hadn’t played the last two weekends, made quick work in his match, winning 6-0, 6-2. To finish the long day off, Pomeranets played flawless tennis in the first set, winning 6-0, and then won 6-3 in the second set. This left Yunis, Gelletich and freshman Aryan Badlani’s matches unfinished.
The Hoosiers will travel to Hanover, New Hampshire in preparation for their match against Dartmouth College on Feb. 7.
