Indiana women’s tennis split its matches Saturday at the IU Tennis Center, dropping a hard-fought game to Purdue before sweeping the University of Southern Indiana.
Against Purdue, Indiana’s duo of junior Elisabeth Dunac and freshman Ameia Sorey got the Hoosiers out on the right foot with a 6-4 win in the doubles two match. With the game going back and forth, one set put the momentum in Indiana’s favor. The Hoosiers were able to generate a return lob right after the serve and Sorey slammed it, sending the packed IU Tennis Center into a roar and giving Indiana a 5-3 lead in the set.
Junior Chase Boyer and senior Nicole Teodosescu battled hard but ultimately dropped the doubles three match 7-5, setting up a deciding point in doubles one.
Freshmen Hi’ilani Williams and Alessandra Teodosescu jumped out to an early lead but slowly let Purdue sophomores Ece Gencer and Ida Clement work their way back into the match, sending it into a tiebreaker. The pairs then traded points before the Hoosiers won a string of four points after being down 1-2. Williams and Teodosescu were up 6-5 with the chance to serve with match point on the line. However, the Boilermakers took the next three points to prevail 7-6 (8-6).
Heading into singles down 1-0, the Hoosiers had work to do. Williams continued to dominate, winning the singles five match in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, to get the team a point on the board. Nicole Teodosescu won the singles four match 7-6 (7-5), 0-6, 6-3.
Boyer dropped singles six 6-3, 6-0, Alessandra Teodosescu dropped singles two 6-2, 1-6, 6-2, and Sorey dropped singles one 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1. The Hoosiers didn’t secure any more points in the singles series and dropped the game 4-2.
Against Southern Indiana, Boyer and Nicole Teodosescu picked up a win in doubles three 6-1. Williams and Alessandra Teodosescu won the doubles one match 6-2 to clinch the opening point and gain momentum heading into singles.
Junior Magdalena Swierczynska won singles six in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0. Dunac also won singles three in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2. Junior Li Hsin Lin clinched the winning point in singles five in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0, to secure the 4-0 sweep.
With the victory over Southern Indiana, the Hoosiers continued to build on their win total from last season and now sit at a 10-3 record.
Indiana stays at home and resumes Big Ten play against Wisconsin on March 14 and Minnesota on March 15. Both games are set for a noon start.
