Women's tennis team turns in solid performance in Nashville

The IU women’s tennis team traveled to Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, matching up with six other teams to compete in the June Stewart Invitational at Vanderbilt.

Team members said beforehand they were excited to match up with the different teams to gain experience and see how their abilities have developed throughout the past few weeks.

“We are very excited to face the teams at this tournament, because they are strong competition.” said IU coach Lin Loring. “We won’t be matching up against each other. We get to see new competition.”

The Hoosiers faced competitors from Vanderbilt, Kentucky, William & Mary, Middle Tennessee State, Western Michigan and Tennessee-Martin at the tournament in both doubles and singles events.

The day began with doubles matches.

“We saw a few Vanderbilt players at the Hoosier Classic (Oct. 3-5), so we know their game styles, and we know what to expect,” said sophomore Charlotte Martin. “It makes a big difference if you feel confident going into a match.”

The doubles teams exuded confidence when they stepped onto the court on the first day.

Sophomore Myriam Sopel and junior Lindsey Stuckey won their first match against Middle Tennessee State in the quickest match of the day, resulting in an 8-3 victory. Senior Stephanie Heller and Martin paired up to take out a duo of comers from Tennessee-Martin in an 8-6 win. while the tandem of senior Sigrid Fischer and sophomore Katya Zapadalova went to a tiebreaker to beat the Vanderbilt duo of Chelsea Preeg and Jackie Wu 9-8.

“We are getting use to our partners in doubles,” Heller said of the day. “We are used to their tendencies and are playing better together.”

The first day concluded with singles, in which the Hoosiers went 5-3. Among the winners were Heller, Martin, Zapadoalova, sophomore Maria Guerreiro and Sopel, whose match went into three sets. The other women were straight-set winners.

Saturday’s matches had many highlights in both doubles and singles rounds.
Sopel won 6-0, 2-6, 6-5 against Vanderbilt’s Erica Robertson to advance to the flight championships. Fischer and Stuckey also tallied a win, as both women were straight-set winners on their respective courts.

The doubles tandem of senior Alba Berdala and Guerreiro grabbed two victories in competition, first beating a team from Vanderbilt 8-6 and then knocking off a team from Middle Tennessee State 8-2.

Heller and Martin added another doubles win to their record, as well, before losing a second match later in the day.

Sunday concluded competition for the Hoosiers with a title-fight singles match between Sopel and Katie Kargl from William & Mary.

Sopel fell short, but the Hoosiers added two more doubles victories to close out their weekend.