The play inside the IU Tennis Center got off to a tight start Saturday afternoon before IU women’s tennis pulled away to beat Western Michigan and Butler in the first dual matches of the season.
When IU welcomed Western Michigan to the courts to begin the afternoon, a competitive set of three doubles matches ensued to determine who got the doubles point.
The first two doubles matches were split, so it was up to IU’s duo of sophomore Madison Appel and senior Kim Schmider to battle Western Michigan’s sophomore Melina Lyubomirova and senior Tracy Kuhle for the first point of the match.
Appel and Schmider fell behind 5-3 early, but battled back to squeeze out a tiebreak victory 7-6 (7-4) to put the Hoosiers up 1-0 in the match.
“That point really set the tone,” IU coach Ramiro Azcui said. “They always find a way. Appel and Schmider are playing really well and just always find a way to win.”
When the singles play started, IU was rolling. The Hoosiers won the first set of all six matches. Appel and sophomore Caitlin Bernard notched wins in the first two singles matches to put IU up 3-0.
Sophomore Natalie Whalen clinched the match for IU with a 6-2, 7-5 victory against Western Michigan sophomore Katja Fevralev, and IU went on to sweep the rest of the singles matches to beat Western Michigan 7-0.
“I had no idea I was playing to clinch the match,” Whalen said. “I think we all used the mojo we got from the doubles point and everyone had a really good attitude and fought hard.”
In the second match of the day, fatigue was not an issue for the Hoosiers. IU knocked off Butler 7-0 thanks to wins from all three doubles teams.
The Hoosiers moved to 2-0 on the season as Azcui picked up his first two career dual match victories as head coach.
“I am so proud of this team,” Azcui said. “They really accepted the challenge and they did exactly what we needed to do. They just did a phenomenal job today.”
