Hoosiers Gaining Momentum

By: Tori Ziege, IUHoosiers.com | Twitter

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The turning point in Indiana's season came during a road loss at No. 20 Michigan.

With the doubles split 1-1 by the Hoosiers' No. 1 and the Wolverine's No. 3, the point came down to No. 2, with the team of Chris Essick and Stefan Lugonjic representing the Hoosiers.
They didn't falter.

The duo battled out a tight 7-6 decision to give Indiana the 1-0 lead. Though his team would eventually fall in the match 4-1, head coach Jeremy Wurtzman had seen what he needed to see.

"That was a start in the right direction," he said.

Since the decisive match in Ann Arbor, Indiana has emerged to win four of its last five Big Ten matches. The Hoosiers are winners of four straight, and with the regular season coming to a close this weekend in Bloomington, they're playing their best tennis at the best time.

None of them are surprised.

"We knew we were going to break through and get through this tough time," sophomore Raheel Manji said. "It was just a matter of when."

During rough times, Manji said the key was staying realistic. The Hoosiers came up against some of the best in the nation in Michigan, No. 10 Illinois, No. 12 Northwestern and No. 5 Ohio State, and played all of them close.

For Indiana, the focus couldn't be on wins and losses. The Hoosiers kept their discipline by asking themselves one simple question: How can we be better than the day before?

It was a pact they made at the beginning of the season. That no matter how things unfolded, they'd keep their sights set on continued improvement. The Hoosiers carried forth that oath, and in doing so, discovered their greatest strength—resiliency.

"I feel like we have come together as one out there," Wurtzman said. "One heartbeat, one family. Everyone is clicking off the court, on the court. In practices, in matches, it's really showing."

Ironically, the same match that sparked Indiana's turnaround also marked the loss of its No. 1 player.

Senior Sam Monette went down with an injury in the winning doubles match and missed the next four singles matches, causing everyone to move up in the order, making Manji was the new No. 1.

He was ready. As Indiana's No. 2, he faced the fourth-ranked player in the nation in Aleks Vukic of Illinois and was up 4-2 on 13^th-ranked Konrad Zieba of Northwestern in the deciding set when the match was called.

Just as the Hoosiers' tough schedule at the season's open has primed them for wins down the stretch, Manji too was prepared to step into his new role.

He converted with wins against Michigan and Michigan State, and once again came up just short against the second-ranked player in the country Mikael Torpegaard of Ohio State, when the second set was called due to the Buckeyes' clinching the match.

"When Sam stepped back in, I knew had experience being able to win at one," Manji said. "Everybody else got experience playing higher in the lineup, and I think that gave us confidence as a team. Knowing that we can compete at higher positions and still be successful and win matches."

Now with a beefed up one-two punch in Monette and Manji and a string of four straight wins, the Hoosiers are confident they can compete with anyone in the Big Ten with the conference tournament just around the corner.

"We were fighting hard when our confidence was a little bit low," Wurtzman said. "Now with the confidence, we're going to be a very difficult match for anyone we come up against."

The Hoosiers are home on Friday at 6:00 p.m. against Wisconsin and will celebrate senior day on Sunday April 24 at 10:00 a.m. against Minnesota.

Indiana University Athletics

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Stefan Lugonjic

Raheel Manji

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