Weekend wins against Miami of Ohio, Ball State extend Hoosier streak to seven

The Hoosiers increased their winning streak to seven Saturday with wins against Miami University (Ohio) and Ball State University.

The action started at 11 a.m. as the Hoosiers took on the Miami of Ohio Redhawks. The Hoosiers ousted the team from Oxford, Ohio, with a score of 5-2.

Competing for the doubles point, the tandems of sophomore Kayla Fujimoto and senior Evgeniya Vertesheva and freshman Alecia Kauss and junior Leslie Hureau both won 8-1 in their matches.

With the doubles point already secured, the freshman tandem of Katie Klyczek and Carolyn Chupa were down 4-6 before rallying to take the last four games of their match, 8-6.

The singles matches were tightly contested against the Redhawks. Hureau played the No. 1 spot and took the match 7-5, 6-1.

The Hoosiers’ two losses for the match happened in the No. 2 and 3 slots. Vertesheva lost in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. Chupa lost in three sets 6-4, 0-6, 6-3.

“In the first match I had a bad matchup,” Vertesheva said. “I had trouble with her game style and lost the game, which was frustrating.”

Klyczek won her match in straight sets, 7-6, 6-3. Her opponent’s return went into the net, which secured the win not only for Klyczek but also gave the Hoosiers the fourth point of the match, securing the team’s sixth-straight win.

In the No. 5 slot, Kauss rolled to victory against her opponent 6-1, 6-0. After losing the first set of the match, Fujimoto came back to win the next two sets to take the match 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

IU Coach Lin Loring said he was not surprised with the fight Miami showed.

“Miami is always (No.) 1 or 2 in the MAC Conference,” Loring said. “I was pleased with the doubles, but I think we came out flat in the singles. We knew they wouldn’t be intimidated with a Big Ten team.”

In the second match of the day, the Hoosiers took on the Ball State Cardinals and swept the Muncie team 7-0.

In doubles, Chupa and Klyczek, Fujimoto and Vertesheva and Hureau and Kauss all won against their opponents while not giving up more than three games in any one match.

When asked who he was most impressed with for the day, Loring said he was particularly happy with the No. 2 doubles tandem of Vertesheva and Fujimoto.  

“The No. 2 doubles played as good as they have in a while,” Loring said. “They have been up and down this season.”

The singles matches had larger margins of victories than those against Miami.
Klyczek, Fujimoto and sophomore Sophie Garre all won their matches 6-0, 6-1. Kauss and Vertesheva also had little trouble with their opponents as Kauss won 6-2, 6-0 and Vertesheva won 6-1, 6-0.

“I played better in the second match,” Vertesheva said. “I played like I’m used to.”

When freshman Shannon Murdy’s opponent put her shot into the net, it secured the Hoosiers’ sweep of the Cardinals. Murdy won 6-3, 6-2.

The Hoosiers were able to get other players court time in the Ball State match.
“We are eight players deep, so we were able to keep engaged,” Loring said. “It’s not like basketball, where you can play someone for 10 minutes and take them out.”

These wins extend the Hoosiers’ streak to seven, which Loring said wasn’t
surprising.

“It’s where we should be,” Loring said. “If it was up to us, we would be 7-1.”