Tennis season ends with tournament loss to Vandy

No. 41 Indiana’s NCAA Tournament run was short-lived as No. 19 Vanderbilt (16-11) bounced IU out of the first round with a 4-0 victory in Clemson, S.C. Friday.

With the loss, the Hoosiers end the year with an 18-10 record, which marks the most wins for the IU women’s tennis program since the 2007-08 season.

While the Hoosiers failed to earn a point, the match was much closer than the score would indicate. IU was competitive in all three doubles matches and three of the singles matches went to three sets.

The No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 singles matches were unfinished. IU was leading or tied in all three matches.

Senior Leslie Hureau, who is ranked No. 115, led No. 63 Lauren Mira 6-4, 5-6 in the No. 1 position. Sophomore Katie Klyczek, who is ranked No. 114, was tied with Courtney Colton 6-4, 4-6, 1-1 in the No. 2 spot. In the No. 3 match, sophomore Alecia Kauss led Marie Casares 7-5, 3-6, 3-0 when Vanderbilt won its fourth point.

In both the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches, the Hoosiers trailed 5-4. Vanderbilt’s Ashleigh Antal and Casares defeated Kauss and sophomore Shannon Murdy 8-4 in the No. 2 match. Georgina Sellyn and Frances Altick topped junior Sophie Garre and Klyczek 8-4 in the No. 3 position to win the doubles point for the Commodores.

The No. 1 doubles match went unfinished, with the Hoosiers trailing 6-4.

In singles, No. 95 Sellyn bested sophomore Carolyn Chupa 6-1, 6-1 in the No. 3 match to give the Commodores a 2-0 lead.

In the No. 5 position, Antal took the first set against Garre 6-2. Garre won the second set by the same margin, but Antal won the match with another 6-2 victory in the third set.

Altick sealed the victory for Vanderbilt in the No. 6 singles match. She defeated senior Jithmie Jayawickrema 7-6 (7-2) in a first set tiebreaker and followed it up by winning the second set 6-3.

After defeating Indiana on Friday, Vanderbilt faced the No. 13 Clemson in the second round. Clemson bested the Commodores 4-2 to advance to the Round of 16 in Champaign, Ill.

The top three finishers in the regular season Big Ten standings — Michigan, Nebraska, and Northwestern — also advanced to the Sweet 16.

—Andy Wittry