IU splits weekend play against nationally ranked Tennessee, DePaul

This weekend the Hoosiers faced highly touted competition, taking on two ranked opponents. Friday, IU played the No. 10 Tennessee Volunteers.

The nationally ranked Volunteers beat IU 5-2, snapping the Hoosiers’ seven-game winning streak.

The action started when Tennessee took the doubles point by winning two of the three doubles matches.

Senior Evgeniya Vertesheva and sophomore Kayla Fujimoto were ousted 8-1 in the No. 2 slot. The Hoosiers evened things up at the No. 3 slot with junior Leslie Hureau and freshman Alecia Kauss winning 8-2.

With the doubles point up for grabs, the freshmen tandem of Carolyn Chupa and Katie Klyczek led the No. 2 doubles pair in the nation of Brynn Boren and Sarah Toti 3-1. Boren and Toti then won seven of the next eight games, winning 8-4.

Singles action saw losses for the 1-4 slots for the Hoosiers. Hureau lost 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 1 slot to No. 34 Boren. Vertesheva lost 6-3, 6-1 to No. 37 Kata Szekely in the No. 2 slot. The No. 3 and No. 4 slots saw Klyczek and Chupa fall by the scores of 6-2, 6-3 and 6-3, 6-3, respectively.

Kauss picked up the victory in the No. 5 slot 6-4, 6-2, and Fujimoto won in the No. 6 slot 7-5, 6-2.

“We had some good individual performances, but overall, it was a disappointing match,” IU Coach Lin Loring said. “We beat ourselves at too many positions. They are No. 10 for a reason, but we should have been more competitive as a team.”

On Sunday, the Hoosiers regrouped to beat the No. 71 DePaul Blue Demons in a 4-3 nail-biter.

In doubles action, Chupa and Klyczek fell 8-3, and the pair of Hureau and Kauss beat their opponents 8-4.

With the doubles point up for grabs, Vertesheva and Fujimoto trailed 5-6, and then stormed back to take the next three games, winning 8-6.

In singles, Hureau and Fujimoto were victorious while Vertesheva, Klyczek and Kauss lost in straight sets.

With the score knotted at 3-3, the match of Chupa and Kelsey Lawson was decisive.

After getting beat 6-3 in the first set, Chupa took the second set 6-3, leaving a third set to decide the match.

In the tiebreak, Chupa took the match 7-4 as Lawson’s lob went long and her teammates flooded the court to embrace in a group hug.

The win for Chupa secured the match for the Hoosiers, who gained their first win versus a ranked opponent this year.

“Win or lose, I think we just competed harder,” Loring said. “This team got a personality today. We had a spirit out there, and we kept fighting. I feel really good for Carolyn because she’s been in a slump lately and especially after getting killed in the first set.”

When asked how it felt to win the match for the team, Chupa said there was more to the win than her singles victory.

“I was definitely in a better mood after the match,” Chupa said. “Everyone on the team contributed to this match. It was a breakthrough for our team.”

The team improved to 8-2 on the young season and gained a signature win in the process.

“This was a win that we needed,” Loring said.