Indiana women’s tennis dropped both of its matches Friday and Saturday against UCLA and No. 10 USC. The Hoosiers finished the regular season with a 14-11 record, their first winning record since the 2022-23 season.
Against UCLA on Friday, Indiana started slow in the doubles series after the duo of junior Chase Boyer and senior Nicole Teodosescu dropped the No. 3 doubles match 6-0.
Junior Elisabeth Dunac and sophomore Nicole Sifuentes then dropped the No. 2 doubles match 6-0, giving UCLA an early 1-0 lead in the match. Freshmen Alessandra Teodosescu and Hi’ilani Williams also were down 4-2 in doubles No. 1 when the match went unfinished.
Facing a 1-0 deficit, the Hoosiers looked to get some points on the board. While Williams fell short in the singles No. 5 match, losing 6-2, 6-3, Nicole Teodosescu stopped the Bruins’ momentum. She won the singles No. 4 match 6-3, 7-5, bringing the score to 2-1 in favor of UCLA.
However, Indiana could not get anything going after the senior’s victory. Freshman Ameia Sorey dropped the singles No. 2 match 7-5, 6-2, and Sifuentes dropped the singles No. 6 match 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, giving UCLA a 4-1 win.
Against No. 10 USC on Saturday, the Trojans jumped out to an early advantage in the doubles series after Dunac and Sifuentes dropped the No. 2 doubles match 6-2.
Williams and Alessandra Teodosescu won the No. 1 doubles match 6-3, giving the Hoosiers a chance to steal an early point.
However, Boyer and Nicole Teodosescu dropped the No. 3 doubles match 7-5 in a hard-fought contest, giving USC the 1-0 lead heading into singles play. Boyer and Teodosescu traded sets the entire game but were not able to come out on top.
The Trojans dominated the remainder of the match. Sorey dropped No. 2 singles 6-3, 6-2, Williams dropped No. 5 singles 6-2, 6-1 and Nicole Teodosescu dropped No. 4 singles 6-1, 6-4, giving USC the clean 4-0 sweep.
With the losses this weekend, the Hoosiers now sit at 14-11 overall with a 4-9 record in Big Ten play. Indiana will now head to Columbus, Ohio, from April 23-26 to compete in the Big Ten Tournament with hopes of improving its No. 72 national ranking.
For Indiana, its success this weekend may come down to doubles. The team boasts a top 100 doubles pairing in Alessandra Teodosescu and Williams that has gone 15-8 as a pair this season. With a strong duo at singles No. 1, splitting the No. 2 doubles and No. 3 doubles is crucial in order to get the overall point.
In singles, Dunac, Williams and Alessandra Teodosescu represent the Hoosiers best chance of racking up points. Sifuentes has also been a valuable contributor in the No. 6 slot in recent weeks. Since being inserted into the lineup, she has a 10-5 record in singles matches.
