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Women’s Tennis
DePaul outshines IU in 4-3 match

Despite opening with a 1-0 lead, the No. 30 Hoosiers were unable to handle DePaul’s solid shots in singles play.

IU (7-2) lost 4-3.

The double tandem of senior Sigrid Fischer and sophomore Myriam Sopel defeated the No. 36 duo of Dunja Antunovic and Kirsten Gambrell 8-5, clinching the doubles point.

“(Sopel) and I, we understand each other very well on the court,” Fischer said. “Today it worked very nicely with their returns that we didn’t miss as many, so that was a good step.”

Matches were played shot-for-shot in singles play as well. Sophomore Charlotte Martin and freshman Megan Matter both lost in the third set, while sophomore Katya Zapadalova was beaten in straight sets by No. 109 Antunovic. Junior Lindsey Stuckey also lost in straight sets, 7-6(3), 6-2.

“DePaul came out really, really strong,” Fischer said. “They have a pretty deep lineup, and at every position it was a really close match.”

The Hoosiers walked away with two singles wins. Senior Alba Berdala cruised to a straight set win, 6-1, 6-2. Fischer wrestled to a three set victory, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2.

Although Berdala’s and Fischer’s wins were not enough, Fischer said the team remains optimistic about the rest of the season.

“I don’t think anything really went wrong,” Fischer said. “They all played as well as they could today. It was all close matches, and overall we just lost 4-3, but we still all played good matches.

– Stephanie Kuzydym

Men’s Tennis
Southern neighbors hand team sixth loss

The Hoosiers dropped their sixth match of the season against No. 31 Kentucky on Saturday, making IU 5-6 on the season.

The doubles teams were only able to win one match and were unable to win the doubles point.

The tandem of sophomore Lachlan Ferguson and freshman Stephen Vogl took on the No. 13 team in the country, losing 8-4. Sophomore Santiago Gruter and freshman Jeremy Langer also lost their doubles match, 8-6.

The only win in doubles came from the senior/freshman duo of Peter Antons and Maxime Armengaud, who won 8-4.

Singles play did not go much better for IU, where the Hoosiers dropped five of the six matches. Ferguson, Gruter, Armengaud, Guy Kubi and Will Kendall all lost their matchups in straight sets. The only win of the day came from Langer who won 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (4).

– Stephanie Kuzydym

Men’s Golf
IU wins Big Ten Match Play Championship

With a strong start to their spring season, the Hoosiers can get used setting trends.
In the Big Ten Match Play Championship, No. 7 IU strolled past Purdue 4-2, Michigan State 4.5-1.5 and Michigan 3.5-2.5 to secure its first victory of the spring in Coral Springs, Fla.

IU coach Mike Mayer said the momentum gained from an early victory is key to a successful season.

“In our sport, you don’t get a chance to win that often,” said Mayer, “So our morale is up, our confidence is up and hopefully we can take that and move forward.”

The Hoosiers’ lineup consisted of Campillo, seniors Drew Allenspach and Seth Brandon, junior Alex Martin  and freshmen Chase Wright and David Erdy.

“In match play, a complete team effort is what you need,” said Mayer. “And that’s what we got this weekend.”

– Ryan Winn

Wrestling
Hoosiers split two Big Ten meets

Facing two ranked conference opponents in a span of three days, the No. 20 IU wrestling team notched both a win and loss.

The Hoosiers (15-5-1, 2-3-1) traveled to Champaign, Ill., for a dual meet with the Illini (11-2, 5-1) on Friday.

IU fell to Illinois by a score of 25-6. The Hoosiers came out of the gate fast with No. 5 Angel Escobedo’s defeat against B.J. Futrell in the 125 pounds matchup. Illinois went on to win eight of the final nine matches. Nick Walpole (149 pounds) was the only other Hoosier to claim a victory in Champaign.

Welcoming the No. 16 Northwestern Wildcats (9-6-1, 2-3-1) to Bloomington, IU was looking to bounce back from Friday’s loss.

Facing No. 3 Brandon Precin in the 125 pounds match, Escobedo came out on top in an overtime thriller. IU won 23-11 win at home. Six additional Hoosier grapplers won matches, including No. 13 Kurt Kinser (157 pounds) and No. 15 Trevor Perry (174 pounds).

IU coach Duane Goldman said the victory served as nice rebound from the Illinois meet.

“It’s not that we wrestled horribly against Illinois, but lost some matches we could have had,” Goldman said. “We did do a nice job of recovering today.”

– Frank Therber


Softball
Hoosiers continue season slide

Struggling to score runs has been a recurring problem in the early part of the IU women’s softball season, with both North Carolina State and Oklahoma State defeating IU this weekend.

Facing a 2-0 deficit in the bottom of the sixth, Brittany Stein hit a two-run home run to tie it up. But the Wolfpack pushed a run across in the top of the seventh and were able to strand two Hoosiers on base in the bottom half of the inning to take a 3-2 win.

“We haven’t been able to string hits together, but I think once we do that we’ll be able to get our first win,” senior shortstop Emily Bergeson said.

Bergeson has been the bright spot on the offensive side of the plate for the Hoosiers, with an on base percentage of .565. Bergeson was moved from the cleanup spot to the leadoff spot a couple games into the season.

“I like the pressure of hitting in the leadoff spot and having the middle of the order move me around on base,” Burgeson said.

After losing 1-0 to Oklahoma State on Sunday, the Hoosiers will look to bounce back next weekend at the Seminole Classic in Tallahassee, Fla.

“I think we’re our own worst enemy right now,” Burgeson said.  “We’re just trying too hard and we need to let it come more naturally.”

– Connor O’Gara


Track and Field
Ark. meet brings IU top competition

The Hoosiers proved they might be one of the nation’s elite track and field teams this weekend while competing at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. The meet featured six of the top 10 teams in the nation and 12 ranked teams total.

IU earned four victories, nine top-five finishes and its first automatic qualification into the NCAA Indoor Championship this season.

Junior Vera Neuenswander , who finished third in pole vault, qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.

“You always know that kind of performance is going to be put in there, and this is another step along the way for her,” IU coach Ron Helmer said.   

Event winners for IU included senior Jeff Coover in pole vault, sophomore Cole Hardacre in the 300-meter run, senior Wendi Robinson in the 500-meter run and freshman Ben Stephen in the shot put.  

“You want to grow and have an outstanding team, and these individuals making these breakthroughs are incredible,” Helmer said. 

– Ari Shifron