Hoosiers split weekend doubleheader, move to 4-1

The IU women's tennis team split its doubleheader Sunday, losing its first match of the season to No. 14 Duke 6-1 before rebounding against Ball State 7-0.\nThe No. 32 Hoosiers faced a tough opponent in the Blue Devils, who boast two singles players ranked in the top 30 nationally. Despite the loss, the team members said they felt positive about their performance.\n"Even though we lost to Duke, we had a lot of close matches," IU's No. 3 singles player Brianna Williams said. "Everybody was in every match and had a chance to win."\nWilliams earned the only point against Duke for the Hoosiers in singles defeating Duke's Kristin Cargill in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.\nIn morning doubles action, the Hoosiers failed to secure the doubles point for the first time this season. The No. 1 doubles team of senior Sarah Batty and junior Laura McGaffigan dropped its first match of the year 8-2 against the Blue Devils' Daniela Bercek and Jessi Robinson, ranked No. 10 nationally.\n"We knew they were good going into the match," McGaffigan said. "We tried some different things, but it didn't turn out our way."\nIn singles, the Hoosiers played competitively but couldn't overcome the talented Blue Devils. Batty played a close first set before losing to Bercek, the No. 6 nationally ranked singles player 6-4, 6-1. At No. 2 singles, McGaffigan made Jackie Carleton, the No. 27 nationally ranked singles player, sweat in a 7-5, 6-3 loss. At the No. 5 spot, Duke's Jennifer Zika narrowly defeated Sigrid Fischer in a tiebreaker 7-5, 5-7, 1-0 (7).\nIU coach Lin Loring said he was pleased with his team's performance against a team he thinks will compete for the national title.\n"(Duke) just hits the ball a little harder, and it goes in a little more than the first teams on our schedule," Loring said. "We prepared for that ... It's one thing to do it in practice, it's another thing to do it in a match."\nLoring said he hopes the Hoosiers will grow from the experience this weekend.\n"I think it will bode well for us if we can just play at that level and improve a little on what we did today," he said. "Hopefully it will give us some confidence."\nIn afternoon play, the Hoosiers took out their frustrations of losing on the Cardinals and improved their record to 4-1.\nAfter taking the doubles point, IU swept singles play.\nBatty won her third match at No. 1 singles, defeating Jessica Thompson 6-2, 6-3. McGaffigan and Alba Berdala also won their matches handily 6-3, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-0, respectively.\nRecording their first wins in collegiate dual play were freshmen Stephanie Heller and Marah Calvo. At the No. 5 spot, Heller defeated the Cardinals' Katie Owens 6-7 (7-5), 6-1, 1-0 (5), and Calvo claimed the point at No. 6 singles 6-1, 6-1.\nThe Hoosiers take a break from the courts until Feb. 11 when they will face \nMarquette.