INDIANAPOLIS – The IUPUI men’s tennis team played its first three Summit League matches of the season away from home last weekend against stiff competition and came away with a 2-1 record. Looking to improve their standing as the Summit League Tournament nears, the Jaguars continued their success in conference action Friday afternoon with a 5-2 win over IPFW.
“Playing against an in-state rival is always a tough test,” said head coach
Brandon Currie. “Our guys came out focused and played with a lot of confidence, and we were able to get the job done.”
The first doubles match to be completed was at the No. 1 slot where IPFW’s top duo of Roberto Cabrini and Francisco Sigaud bested IUPUI’s top tandem of
Joe Hammond and
Bren Vasalakis, 8-3.
The Jags No. 3 team featuring
Dan Klingenberg and
Ivan Mojsejev evened the doubles action at one match apiece besting their opponents, 8-2, evening the doubles action at one match apiece.
The coveted doubles point came down to the No. 2 match that pitted IUPUI’s
Nick Volz and
Joel Modesitt against IPFW’s Junya Saruta and Daniel Kang. Volz and Modesitt moved ahead courtesy of an early break and led 6-4 at one point, before Saruta and Kang broke IUPUI’s serve and held their own to knot things at 6-6.
With Volz serving, the sophomore put together four great serves that placed the Jags back in front, 7-6, before he and Modesitt broke Saruta and Kang’s serve to win the match, 8-6, capturing the doubles point for the Jaguars.
After taking the 1-0 lead, Volz, Klingenberg, and Modesitt all jumped out to early one-set leads at the No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 positions, respectively, while Mojsejev struggled from the get-go against IPFW’s top singles performer, Cabrini.
Despite the hot start for the Jags, IPFW started to recapture the momentum in the No. 2 and No. 3 matches with Sigaud jumping out to a 5-2 lead over Volz and Dean Guyer taking a commanding 4-1 advantage over Klingenberg in the second set of each match.
With his teammates struggling, Modesitt put a forehand down the line to close out a 6-2, 6-3 win, moving IUPUI’s lead to 2-0. It was Modesitt’s win that proved to be the turning point of the match.
After losing 6-1 in the first set, Mojsejev was trailing 3-2 in the second set when Modesitt completed his match. From that point, Mojsejev slowly eliminated his mistakes and forced his opponent into a series of unforced errors. Those miscues helped Mojsejev not only take the next four games to win the second set, 6-3, but also win the first four games of the third set.
Volz and Klingenberg both trailed in the second sets of their matches at Modesitt’s completion and eventually went on to lose those sets, but both were able to gain momentum at the end of those sets that carried into their third sets.
With Mojsejev, Volz, and Klingenberg each in the third set, IUPUI needed only two wins to clinch the victory. Holding on to a 4-0 lead, Mojsejev continued to play at a high level and cruised to a 6-1 third-set win to pick up the victory, and minutes later, Klingenberg emerged victorious claiming a 6-0 third-set triumph.
With the outcome decided, Volz and Sigaud went to a third-set tiebreaker with Volz making a late rally to win the third set, 7-6, giving the Jags a 5-0 cushion.
Chase Emerson and
Taylor Tunis closed out the rotation at the No. 5 and 6 positions, respectively, but both came up short in their matches. Despite the losses at the back end of the rotation, IUPUI improved to 3-1 in Summit League action with the 5-2 win.
The Jaguars return to action on Sunday, April 3, when they travel north to South Bend, Ind., to take on No. 23 Notre Dame.
IUPUI 5, IPFW 2
Doubles
1. Cabrini/Sigaud (IPFW) def. Hammond/Vasalakis (IUPUI) 8-3
2. Volz/Modesitt (IUPUI) def. Saruta/Kang (IPFW) 8-6
3. Klingenberg/Mojsejev (IUPUI) def. Guyer/Kanavos (IPFW) 8-2
Order of finish (1, 3, 2)
Singles
1. Ivan Mojsejev (IUPUI) def. Roberto Cabrini (IPFW) 1-6, 6-3. 6-1
2. Nick Volz (IUPUI) def. Francisco Sigaud (IPFW) 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3)
5. Junya Saruta (IPFW) def.
Chase Emerson (IUPUI) 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (8)
6. Eduardo Sztrajtman (IPFW) def.
Taylor Tunis (IUPUI) 6-0, 6-2
Order of finish (4, 1, 3, 2, 6, 5)
