University of Minnesota Athletics
Indiana Knocks Gophers Out of Big Ten Tourney
4/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Dino Bilankov posted a straight sets win at No. 4 singles, but it was Minnesota’s only highlight as the Gophers were stunned by Indiana 4-1 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten men’s tennis tournament on Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Minnesota entered the match as the tournament’s third seed and dropped to 18-7 overall with the loss. The Gophers are now forced to wait for an at-large bid to the 64-team NCAA tournament field, which is unveiled on Tuesday afternoon. Ranked 32nd in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, Minnesota should be in good shape to earn a spot in the national tournament. Indiana is 15-13 overall and plays Illinois in Saturday’s semifinals. The Gophers had beaten Indiana 6-1 during the regular season.
The Hoosiers started the day by taking the doubles point with wins from Lachlan Ferguson and Stephen Vogl at No. 2 and Peter Antons and Maxime Armengaud at No. 3. Ferguson and Vogl beat Bilankov and Tobias Wernet 8-3, while Antons and Armengaud knocked off Julian Dehn and Michael Sicora 8-4.
Ferguson gave the Hoosiers a 2-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Hadash at No. 1. Hadash entered the day ranked 58th nationally and took a serious blow to his hopes of landing a spot in the 64-player NCAA tournament field. Indiana went ahead 3-0 when Vogl defeated Sicora 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6.
Bilankov got the Gophers started with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Armengaud, but the Hoosiers clinched the match victory when Will Kendall beat Dehn 6-4, 7-6 at No. 5.
Indiana also won the first set at the other two singles matches that were suspended. Gruter beat Wernet 6-4 before Wernet rallied for a 6-4 second set victory, while Jeremy Langer beat Sebastian Gallego 6-2 in the opening set and the two were set to go to a tiebreaker in the second set when the team score was decided.
Indiana 4, No. 32 Minnesota 1
Singles
No. 1 -- #103 Lachlan Ferguson (IU) d. #58 Ishay Hadash (MINN), 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 -- #81 Tobias Wernet (MINN) vs. Santiago Gruter (IU), 4-6, 6-4 (unfinished)
No. 3 -- Sebastian Gallego (MINN) vs. Jeremy Langer (IU), 2-6, 6-6 (unfinished)
No. 4 -- Dino Bilankov (MINN) d. Maxime Armengaud (IU), 7-5, 6-2
No. 5 -- Will Kendall (IU) d. Julian Dehn (MINN), 6-4, 7-6(2)
No. 6 -- Stephen Vogl (IU) d. Michael Sicora (MINN), 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- #60 Gallego/Hadash (MINN) vs. Gruter/Langer (IU), 6-7 (unfinished)
No. 2 -- Ferguson/Vogl (IU) d. Bilankov/Wernet (MINN), 8-3
No. 3 -- Peter Antons/Armengaud (IU) d. Dehn/Sicora (MINN), 8-4
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-3, Singles 1-6-4-5
Players Mentioned
