Hoosiers fall short against 2 SEC opponents

Entering the weekend, IU Coach Lin Loring said the No. 54 Hoosiers might not be favored in a dual match for the rest of the season due to the strength of the
competition.

After starting the spring season with an eight-match win streak, in which IU won all of the matches with a score of 6-1 or 7-0, the Hoosiers had their first losses of the season this past weekend on the road to SEC opponents, which Loring said is the toughest conference in the country.

On Friday, IU lost to No. 25 Tennessee, and the Hoosiers fell to Kentucky on Sunday. The Hoosiers were tied 3-3 heading into the final singles match against both the Volunteers and Wildcats, but were unable to pull off a victory on either occasion.

The Hoosiers’ match against Tennessee at the Goodfriend Tennis Center was the team’s first match against a ranked opponent this season.

IU started its match against Tennessee by winning the No. 2 doubles match. Sophomores Carolyn Chupa and Katie Klyczek defeated Tennessee’s Joanna Henderson and Caitlyn Williams, 8-5.

Tennessee responded by winning the No. 1 match, in which the No. 3 doubles pair in the country, Brynn Boren and Kata Szekely, topped IU’s No. 44 junior Sophie Garre and senior Leslie Hureau, 8-5.

After the teams split the first two doubles matches, sophomores Alecia Kauss and Shannon Murdy battled back from an early deficit to win the No. 3 doubles match 9-7 against Tennessee’s Sarah Toti and Mimi Fotopoulos, which gave IU a 1-0 lead.

Loring said it was good for the Hoosiers to be able to start the match by winning the doubles point. He said it showed improvement from past IU teams and it had been a few years since IU had won the doubles point against a top-25 team.

Tennessee tied the score when Hureau retired during the No. 1 singles match against No. 18 Boren, 6-0, 1-0. Hureau pulled her quadriceps muscle in the match and Loring said she retired because the team would need her against Kentucky.

Volunteer senior Szekely bested Klyczek 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 2 position.

IU gained its first singles win when Murdy defeated Toti 6-0, 6-3 in the No. 6 match. The Hoosiers took a 3-2 lead and came within one point of the victory when Chupa topped Fotopoulos 6-3, 6-4.

The Volunteers tied the match at three, however, when Williams knocked off Kauss 6-4, 7-6.

The No. 4 singles match was the only one not won in consecutive sets. Garre won the first set 6-4. Henderson bounced back and won the second set 6-1.

Garre took a 3-2 lead in the final set, but Henderson won the set 6-4, which gave Tennessee a 4-3 victory.

Even though the Hoosiers lost, Loring said the women competed very hard, especially since it was IU’s first road match against a top-25 team.

“We didn’t know quite what to expect because we hadn’t played a team at that level, especially on the road,” he said. “I thought we responded well and we were close enough to win. That’s why those losses are kind of painful because we were in the match.”

Loring said the Hoosiers had an easy practice Saturday in the Boone Tennis Complex at Kentucky to adjust to the courts and to be prepared for their match against the Wildcats.

For the first time this season, IU lost the doubles point. Kauss and Murdy won the No. 3 match against Kirsten Lewis and Jessica Stiles 8-3, but the Wildcats took the No. 1 and No. 2 matches.

Kentucky took a 3-0 lead when Nadia Ravita and Jessica Stiles won the No. 1 and No. 2 matches, respectively, in consecutive sets.

However, IU stormed back to tie the match by winning the No. 4, No. 3 and No. 5 singles matches. Garre defeated Lewis 2-6, 6-0, 6-2; Kauss topped Edmee Morin-Kougoucheff 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; and Chupa bested Caitlin McGraw 6-0, 6-1.

For the second time in three days, IU’s match came down to the final singles match. In the No. 6 match, Kentucky’s Stephanie Fox defeated Murdy 6-2, 6-1, which gave Kentucky a 4-3 advantage in the match.

Loring said that the team needs to learn from this weekend’s matches, get better and move on because every match the rest of the season will be just like those.

“This was a very disappointing weekend because we played good enough to win at least one of these tough road matches,” Loring said. “We just couldn’t get everyone to play good at the same time.

“We had some outstanding performances each day but not enough at the same time.”