Indiana women’s tennis shut out Michigan State 4-0 on Saturday but lost 6-1 to No. 3 Michigan on Sunday in Bloomington. The Hoosiers are now 12-8 overall and 3-5 in the Big Ten this season.
On Saturday, the Hoosiers won five straight matches and shut out the Spartans. For the doubles, Hoosiers’ No. 1 sophomore Lara Schneider and graduate student Saby Nihalani won 6-1 against Spartans’ sophomore Liisa Vehvilainen and freshman Marley Lambert to start things off.
At No. 2, Hoosiers redshirt junior Alexandra Staiculescu and freshman Nicole Teodosescu played together for the third time this season and, this time, beat Spartans’ freshman Issey Purser and graduate student Nicole Conard 6-2. The Spartans’ double was 5-2 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten, but the Hoosiers managed to hold them off and earn the doubles point.
In singles play, Indiana kept the good momentum going and won three straight to get the win. The No. 2 game was the first to end, with Nihalani beating Spartans’ Lambert 6-3 and 6-0 and snapping a four-game losing streak.
Then, Hoosiers’ redshirt junior Mila Mejic won 6-0 and 7-6 (7-1) against Spartans’ Purser, snapping a losing streak of two games. Staiculescu finished things off winning 6-4 and 6-0 against Spartans’ Conrad at No. 4 and improving her winning streak to three games.
On Sunday, however, things were different. The Wolverines were undefeated in the Big Ten and 16-3 overall before the game, and the Hoosiers were no match.
In the doubles, Hoosiers’ No. 3 redshirt junior Xiaowei "Rose" Hu and graduate student Lauren Lemonds were shut out 6-0 by Wolverines’ juniors Merri Kelly and Kari Miller. This was the first time this season that Hu and Lemonds played together.
At No. 2, Hoosiers’ Staiculescu and Teodosescu played together again but this time were defeated 6-2 by Wolverines’ sophomore Julia Fliegner and freshman Lily Jones. The Hoosiers’ No. 2 is now 1-2 both in the Big Ten and overall this season.
Hoosiers’ No. 1 Schneider and Nihalani were up 5-3 against Wolverines’ senior Andrea Cerdan and junior Jaedan Brown, but their match was unfinished because Michigan had already taken the doubles point.
For the singles play, the Hoosiers started out with a loss at No. 6 with Hu getting beat 6-3 and 6-1 by Wolverines’ Jones. Hu is now 2-2 in the Big Ten and 6-6 overall this season.
The loss at No. 6 was followed by No. 3 Mejic losing 6-4 and 6-2 to Michigan’s Fliegner. Mejic dropped to 3-3 in the conference and 11-8 overall, but she is 5-4 in the last ten games.
No. 2 Nihalani was defeated 6-1 and 6-2 by Wolverines’ Miller. The Hoosiers’ No. 2 continued an inconsistent stretch, winning four and losing five in the last ten matches, and has dropped to 3-3 in the Big Ten and 10-6 overall in the season.
With the win at No. 2, Michigan had already won the matchup, but the coaches decided to go the distance with all the other games as well.
Hoosiers’ No. 1 Schneider lost 6-2 and 6-2 to Michigan’s Brown, losing her first Big Ten matchup this season. With the loss, Schneider dropped to 12-4 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten this season, but she is 7-2 in the last ten matches.
At No. 4, Hoosiers’ Staiculescu lost 6-4 and 6-3 to Wolverines’ Cerdan, which snapped her three-games winning streak. Staiculescu dropped to 5-13 in the season and 3-4 in the Big Ten with the loss, placing her at 3-7 in the last ten matches.
Indiana’s only win came in the very last game of the match. The Hoosiers’ Teodosescu played Michigan’s junior Gala Mesochoritou in a lengthy matchup that ended 5-7, 6-4 and 1-0(13-11) for the Hoosier freshman.
With the win, Teodosescu improved to 7-5 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten this season. The freshman is also on a two-game winning streak and 6-3 in the last ten matches.
Indiana looks ahead to three straight away games against Purdue, Wisconsin and Minnesota to finish the season.
The Hoosiers play Purdue on Saturday in West Lafayette.
Follow reporter Leo Paes (@Leordpaes) for updates throughout the match and the rest of the Indiana women’s tennis season.
