Hoosiers split 2012 team debut

The women’s tennis team kicked off its 2012 team schedule Sunday by traveling to Durham, N.C., to take on the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils and the UNC Greensboro Spartans.

The action started at noon as the team faced off against a talented Duke team. The result of the match was a 6-1 IU loss.

The only victorious Hoosier was sophomore Kayla Fujimoto. She defeated the No. 97 singles player in the nation, Annie Mulholland, 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (10-8).

In the other single matches, junior Leslie Hureau was defeated by No. 7 Beatrice Capra 6-3, 6-2. Senior Genya Vertesheva fell to No. 38 Hanna Mar 6-2, 6-2.

No. 79 freshman Carolyn Chupa was defeated by Ester Goldfeld 6-2, 3-4 (retired). Freshman Katie Klyczek lost to No. 117 Rachael Kahan 6-1, 6-2. Freshman Alecia Kauss fell to No. 66 Mary Clayton 6-1, 6-1.

In doubles matches, the Hoosiers lost all three matches. Fujimoto/Vertesheva fell to Capra/Kahan 8-2. Chupa/Klyczek lost to Clayton/Goldfeld 8-6. Hureau/Kauss were defeated by Mar/Monica Gorny 8-5.

“I am pleased with our effort at Duke. We put ourselves in a position to win the doubles point and couldn’t put it away,” IU Coach Lin Loring said. “We were up 6-4 at No. 2 and 5-3 at No. 3 with points to go up 6-3. The singles scores were much closer than they appear.

“It’s tough to open on the road with half of your roster being freshmen against the No. 3 team in the country, but we played well.”

The later match of the day saw the Hoosiers pick up their first team win of the season. They defeated UNC Greensboro 6-1.

The day saw freshmen Shannon Murdy, Klyczek and Kauss pick up their first wins of their collegiate careers in team play.

Hureau defeated Dilara Yurtkuran 6-3, 6-1. Klyczek won her match against Alex Whitehead 6-1, 6-2. Kauss won a tightly contested match with Lucy Dougherty 6-4, 7-6 (5). Murdy won her match against Annette Rios 6-2, 6-4.

Sophomore Sophie Garre was victorious in her match against Stephanie Falcon 6-2, 7-5. Vertesheva’s comeback came up short, causing her to lose her match in tiebreaker fashion against Nitooli Wilkins 1-6, 7-5, 1-0 (11-9).

Winning two of the three doubles matches, the Hoosiers secured the doubles point. Chupa/Klyczek beat their opponents Whitehead/Yurtkuran 9-7.

Kauss/Hureau were also victorious in their match against Devon Sutherland/Kayla Gammie 8-1. The tandem of Vertesheva/Fujimoto fell to the No. 40 doubles tandem in the nation Wilkins/Dougherty 8-5.

“UNC Greensboro was a great match,” Loring said. “We were very tired and had to fight the whole match. We could have easily lost it, but it was a great win on the road.”
The Hoosiers continue their season Saturday, Jan. 28, when they play host to Western Michigan and then to Butler.