Indiana women’s tennis is set to host the annual Hoosier Classic in Bloomington on Friday and Saturday. After the Debbie Southern Furman Fall Classic in Greenville, South Carolina, on the weekend of Sept.15-17, this tournament will mark the Hoosiers’ first home invitational of the season.
The Hoosiers will look to build off performances from graduate Lene Mari Hovda and redshirt junior Lara Schneider, who were the only two Hoosiers to compete in the Debbie Southern Furman Fall Classic.
For Hovda, her weekend was cut short, as she was forced to retire. At the time she retired, Hovda was down 6-1, 3-0 to University of Georgia sophomore Anastasiia Lopata.
Schneider faced a tough challenge in her first match in Greenville while playing against Georgia's No. 6-ranked Dasha Vidmanova, losing 6-3, 6-3. However, Schneider rebounded with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 win over No. 123-ranked Clemson University's Cristina Mayorova. Schneider finished off her weekend with a loss to Ohio State's No. 26 Sydni Ratliff in a third-set tiebreaker.
According to a Purdue article, the Hoosiers will host Purdue, Xavier University, University of Cincinnati, Northern Illinois University and Miami University (Ohio) in the annual Hoosier Classic. Last year, the Hoosier lineup went 8-5, led by graduates Lauren Lemonds, Saby Nihalani and redshirt junior Alexandra Staiculescu. However, those three players are no longer playing for the Hoosiers, so the lineup will be completely different this weekend.
After the Hoosier Classic, the women’s tennis team will head to Cary, North Carolina, for the ITA All-American Championships from Sept. 30 to Oct. 8.
