The Hoosiers were without their No. 1 player this weekend.
The women’s tennis team came rolling into its regular season opener after a dominating performance at the Indiana Winter Invitational, but senior Madison Appel was inactive.
Listed at No. 97 in the Oracle/ITA Division I women’s rankings for individual athletes, Appel missed out on her first chance at competitive play with an apparent sickness.
IU challenged University of Cincinnati and Xavier University on Jan. 26 at the IU Tennis Center. Last season, the Hoosiers beat the Bearcats 4-1 before edging out the Musketeers 6-1.
In between these two victories, IU Head Coach Ramiro Azcui decided to switch his doubles pairings after Cincinnati earned the point in the initial match.
It paid off. Xavier and IU split the first and third doubles matches, respectively, before then-junior Madison Appel and then-freshman Michelle McKamey earned a decisive 6-3 win. The Hoosiers claimed the doubles point and won five of their six singles matches.
With an open space at the top of his lineup this weekend, Azcui was forced to move everyone up a spot and insert junior Anna McCoy into the No. 6 singles spot.
Senior Natalie Whalen and junior Caitlin Bernard won 6-4, but second and third doubles did not hold up on their end, conceding the doubles point to Xavier. The Musketeers won at second, fourth and sixth singles in straight sets to earn a team win over the Hoosiers.
Azcui said fatigue and recovery from match to match would be key for the team this weekend, but getting the doubles point to start a match is always at the top of his priorities.
“In college tennis, doubles becomes such a critical part of the matches,” Azcui said earlier this week. “Mixing doubles pairings is something we always consider, but right now we like how we’re playing together. If we need to make a change for the second match, we will.”
Playing off of a loss earlier in the day, Azcui did just that. McKamey teamed up with freshman Somer Henry while sophomore Jelly Bozovic slid down to third doubles with McCoy.
Bernard and Whalen stuck together at first doubles but lost 6-2. IU’s third doubles pairing earned a 7-5 win, but second doubles lost by the same score, gifting UC the doubles point.
Despite losses from Henry and McCoy at singles, the Hoosiers were able to manage the early deficit.
Bozovic cruised to a victory at third singles while McKamey earned a hard-fought win in straight sets after taking a second set tiebreaker. Bernard dropped her first set at singles only to come back for a three-set win.
With IU and UC at three points each, the match came down to No. 1 singles. Whalen stepped in for Appel. The senior dropped the opening set 6-4 but stormed back in the second with a tie-breaking win. Whalen won the third 6-0, giving the Hoosiers their first win of 2019.
“I liked the way the energy was so much higher for the second match,” Azcui said. “We challenged them, and they came through with the win. I’m really happy for these kids just because they needed to see that they can get a win like that.”
At 1-1, IU’s next match is at 11 a.m. Feb. 2 against Western Michigan University at the IU Tennis Center.
