IU beats Ohio State in home conference match

Aside from an IU tennis ball that one Ohio State player pocketed as a souvenir, the Buckeyes had nothing to show for their hard-fought, 1-6 loss against the IU women’s tennis team Wednesday night.\nIn case the “O-H-I-O” chants by the opponents at the IU Varsity Tennis Center didn’t clearly announce who the Hoosiers were playing Wednesday night, the white bus in the parking lot marked “The Ohio State University” surely eliminated any confusion. \nThe battle between the Big Ten rivals lasted four hours, but the Hoosiers eventually dealt the Buckeyes what was perhaps the most taxing loss of their season. \nIU won two of three close doubles contests to take the match’s first point. \nAfter junior Brianna Williams and sophomore Alba Berdala won their respective singles matches, the Hoosiers were short only one more point to clinch the match. \nThat’s when things got interesting. \nEven after freshman Lindsey Stuckey fell short of forcing a tiebreaking third set in her match, IU was still in good position to seal the win with senior Cecile Perton and sophomore Sigrid Fischer each taking the first set in their matches and senior Laura McGaffigan coming from behind to force a third set in her match.\nBut the Buckeyes didn’t go away. \nPerton and Fischer were both taken to third sets, and McGaffigan’s final set was a back-and-forth affair. A win in each of the three matches would have given Ohio State the victory, but Perton killed the Buckeyes’ spirits with her dominating third-set win that clinched the match for IU.\n“It took the pressure off everybody,” Perton said. “A win is a win, but knowing that you’re clinching the victory is always a good feeling.”\nThe momentum shift was almost visible, as McGaffigan and Fischer each rallied to win their respective matches.\nThough they put the pressure on IU for the entire match, the 6-1 final score was a lopsided Hoosier victory. \n“I guess it would be a little bit frustrating (for Ohio State), because they were so close in so many matches,” McGaffigan said. “It’s just a point here and a point there, and it could have been totally different.”\nJust as the “O-H-I-O” chant clearly separated one red and white team from the other early on, the sudden shifts in dispositions made identifying the winning and losing squads just as easy.\nPerton laughed and celebrated with her teammates, but on the other end of the court, the Buckeyes gazed across the room sans emotion.\nIU coach Lin Loring said the match could have gone either way, but he was just satisfied that it wasn’t his team leaving empty-handed.\n“It’s just a huge win,” he said. “For us to be 5-0 (in conference) at this point in the season is really, really good.”\nIn addition to remaining undefeated in Big Ten play, the win improves the Hoosiers’ record to 15-3 on the season.