INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - In their last match of the weekend and final home match of the season, the Jaguars came up short again, this time to Butler by a score of 5-2.
IUPUI and Butler always seem to play each other close with the schools exchanging 4-3 wins in the previous two meetings. Today was no different.
Butler got on the board first with a pair of 8-4 wins at No. 1 and 3 doubles.
Thomas Gans and
Jacob Bradley were in control of the No. 2 doubles match, up 7-5 and serving, but the other matches finished and the doubles point was already clinched so the schools moved on to singles.
Alex Toliver won quickly at No. 2 singles but Bradley lost only moments afterwards.
Down 2-1, the Jags needed to win three of the remaining four singles matches. With
Jason Jaruvang, Gans and
Akshay Verma all leading in the first set, taking three of four didn't seem that unlikely.
Gans finished off his first set in straightforward fashion, winning 6-4 and Verma required a tiebreak, but also came through. Up 4-2, Jaruvang needed only to hold serve twice and the Jags would lead by a set in three matches. Unfortunately for Jaruvang, his opponent reeled off four straight games to steal the first set 6-4. The inability to hold serve would continue into the second set when Jaruvang was broken right away. He got the break back though and took a 2-1 lead into the changeover. After exchanging breaks once more in the set he took control and forced a third set with a 7-5 score in the second.
Gans and Verma weren't so fortunate. Both were forced to a third set after dropping the second. Around the same time, Patrick O'Neill's opponent finished off the No. 5 singles match 6-3, 6-4 forcing the Jaguars to take the remaining three matches to win.
Early in the third set of Gans's match, a controversial overcall by the line judge caused a temporary stop in play on all three courts. With crosstown bragging rights at stake and friends and family from both schools turning out to watch, the crowd began to get more anxious and the matches more intense. The players who'd already finished and others watching began to engage in a shouting match as those on the court exchanged blows.
Unfortunately for the Jaguars, that was the climax of the match. Verma lost quickly in the third 6-2 giving Butler the win.
Gans had fallen behind 5-2 in the third and fought back to 5-4, but couldn't get over the hump. His opponent held serve in the final game to take the match.
Although Butler had already won, there was still plenty of drama at No. 1 singles. Both schools' best players were evenly matched and were trying to grind the other down. Neither showed much willingness to attack the net, but rather waited for the opponent to get caught out of position before hitting home a winner.
The score remained tight late into the set before it was tied 5-5. The rules mandate third set tiebreaks start at five all, so off to a tiebreak they went. Jaruvang got up early with two mini-breaks to take control. His opponent broke back once, but it wasn't enough and Jaruvang ran away winning the tiebreak 7-2.
Jaruvang's win was his second at No. 1 singles this spring and fourth overall. Toliver's was his sixth overall, tied for the team-lead with Gans, and pushed his overall and No. 2 singles records back to .500.
Results:
IUPUI 2 - Butler 5
Singles:
1. Jason Jaruvang (IUPUI) def. Pulok Bhattacharya (BU-M) 4-6, 7-5, 6-5 (2)
2. Alex Toliver (IUPUI) def. Sam O'Neill (BU-M) 6-2, 6-3
3. Austin Woldmoe (BU-M) def.
Thomas Gans (IUPUI) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. Brandon Woods (BU-M) def.
Jacob Bradley (IUPUI) 6-3, 6-1
5. Tommy Marx (BU-M) def. Patrick O'Neill (IUPUI) 6-3, 6-4
6. Alex Woldmoe (BU-M) def.
Akshay Verma (IUPUI) 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2
Doubles:
1. Sam O'Neill/Billy Weldon (BU-M) def. Patrick O'Neill/Alex Toliver (IUPUI) 8-4
2. Brandon Woods/Pulok Bhattacharya (BU-M) vs. Thomas Gans/Jacob Bradley (IUPUI) unfinished
3. Tommy Marx/Alex Woldmoe (BU-M) def. Manuel Laboy/Jason Jaruvang (IUPUI) 8-4
Notes:
IUPUI (2-11)
Butler (7-3)
Order of finish:
Doubles - 3, 1
Singles - 2, 4, 5, 6, 3, 1
