Hoosiers edge Wildcats in close victory

As close as a razor blade to naked skin.\nOnly that could describe the No. 24 Hoosiers’ 4-3 win – \ntheir closest match of the season – over the No. 26 Kentucky Wildcats Saturday.\nThe Hoosiers started off the match by winning the doubles point, narrowly defeating Kentucky, and setting the tone for the rest of the game. Freshman Katya Zapadalova and junior Alba Berdala lost 6-8 to the No. 20 duo of Christine Johnston and Carolina Escamilla. The other two doubles matches were equally gripping, with IU winning the last two matches, both 9-7.\nFacing match point, a fateful hit from freshman Myriam Sopel’s racket secured the doubles point for the Hoosiers.\nThe singles matches were also split between victories and defeats.\nZapadalova hung on in her match before losing 6-4, 6-4 to Megan Broderick. Berdala took on No. 69 ranked Sarah Woestmann winning 7-5, 6-2. After her win, which clinched the victory for the Hoosiers, the team turned its attention to the last match.\nBoth teams assembled in a horizontal line across the court, watching freshman Charlotte Martin compete against Kentucky’s Alaina Trgovich. After splitting the first two sets, Martin fell to Trgovich in the third, losing 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.\nThe rest of the matches weren’t as dramatic. Junior Sigrid Fischer lost 6-3, 6-1, however, both senior captain Brianna Williams and junior Lindsey Stuckey handily defeated their opponents. Williams beat Wildcat Whitney Spencer 6-1, 6-1 while Stuckey beat Kentucky’s Escamilla 6-0, 6-2.\nBerdala said she kept tabs on her teammates during the matches. Knowing how her teammates were faring kept her more determined to win.\n“I always check out how everyone is doing,” Berdala said. “When I saw that I was the one who had to win the match, I was more focused. Now it’s time that you have to step up and play better because I could see that the other ones were struggling with it.”\nMartin also agreed that watching her teammates compete well, despite the challenges, kept her going throughout her three-set match.\n“It’s good if you see someone else in a tight match – it really spurs you on,” Martin said. “If you see your teammates down, obviously you want to win. If you can see they’re really in a battle it gives you real momentum. It’s good to play those sorts of matches because it sort of brings the team together.”\nIU coach Lin Loring stressed the importance of the match, noting it gave the team experience they can use later in the season for a chance to make the NCAA tournament. \n“For our freshmen, especially being in their first really tight match, it could have gone either way,” Loring said. “I just think it really helps to have that experience. Even though Charlotte’s match in the end didn’t count, it was a really good situation for her to be the only one out there with everybody watching in the third set because next time it happens it might be the deciding point of the match.”\nKentucky came into the match undefeated, but as a result of the loss dropped to 4-1. In a mirror result, the win boosted IU’s record to 4-1. The Hoosiers will look to win again on Sunday with two matches scheduled at the IU Tennis Center: Marquette at 10 a.m. and Morehead State at 3 p.m.