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Women's Tennis
IU stops in-state rival

After a home game against No. 3 Notre Dame, the Hoosiers took on another in-state foe this weekend.

IU beat rival Purdue 4-3 on Saturday in West Lafayette.

“We started our first four Big Ten matches on the road,” IU coach Lin Loring said. “I don’t think we’ve ever done that in the 32 years I’ve been here.”

Switching player combinations, the Hooisers added a new face to their doubles lineup. The new combination of senior Sigrid Fischer and freshman Charlotte Martin won 8-3. Then, junior Lindsey Stuckey and sophomore Myriam Sopel snatched the doubles point with an 8-5 victory.

The black and gold gained a lead against IU during singles, winning the first two completed matches. But Stuckey and senior Alba Berdala did not allow Purdue any relief, both winning in straight sets.

The rivals were left in suspense when the two remaining matches went to three sets. Sopel dominated the third set to win her match 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 and solidify the win for the Hoosiers.

“It was definitely our best road win of the year,” Loring said. “We got out of it as 2-2. Now we have our six remaining matches at home. It was a really huge win.”

 – By Stephanie Kuzydym

Men’s Tennis
No. 45 Hoosiers break down the Boilers

One month ago, the men’s tennis team had a 5-7 record.

One month later, the team is 3-0 in the Big Ten.

The men continued their conference success, knocking off Purdue, 5-2, on Saturday.

“We were the favorite, and our guys went out like we were the favorites,” IU coach Randy Bloemendaal said. “We didn’t play the best tennis, but it’s a learning process.”

After the No. 3 doubles team dropped its match 8-4, sophomore Lachlan Ferguson and freshman Stephen Vogl took down their Boilermaker duo by the same score, leaving the No. 2 doubles to decide the doubles point. Sophomore Santiago Gruter and freshman Jeremy Langer pumped up the fans on their way to a final score of 9-8 (9-7).

With Hoosier hysteria high, the team kept the excitement alive during singles play.
Gruter was the only player who took the fast track, winning in straight sets. Gruter’s match was the only one to last only two sets. Vogl said his team fought hard to win the match.

“You can’t ask for more than that,” Vogl said.

Vogl improved his singles record to 3-0, with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 win. Ferguson used a variety of shots to win 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 7-5.

Freshman Will Kendall won his match in three sets, clinching the game for the Hoosiers.

“It’s very difficult to carry pressure all day long,” Bloemendaal said. “Young teams have to learn how to carry that kind of pressures. As far as that goes, we won ugly today but we figured out a way to do it.”

– By Stephanie Kuzydym

Men's Swimming and Diving
Young team makes due at NCAAs

The short-handed IU men’s swimming and diving team finished its season Saturday at the NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas, with success from its youth.

Only having qualified three swimmers and two divers, the Hoosiers scraped up 25 points during the three-day event, landing them a 25th-place finish in the field of 41.

“I said earlier in the week that we would be lucky to finish top 30,” IU coach Ray Looze said. “With what we had here, we did the best we could.”

Freshman swimmer Eric Ress and sophomore diver Landon Marzullo lead the Hoosiers with All-American accolades.

“I can’t complain about the results of this meet,” Ress said. “There wasn’t a complete session for IU that was bad.”

Ress placed 11th in the 100-meter backstroke to earn his first All-American honor, while Marzullo added two All-American performances to his resume with 12th- and fifth-place finishes on the 1-meter springboard and the platform, respectively.

“I’m proud of the guys,” Looze said. “I’m very proud of Eric Ress who got All-American, Cody (Weik) had two personal bests and Matt Lenton finished out his senior year well. ... We had adversity to overcome, and we did that.”

Looking ahead to the future, swimmers and coaches said they must take strides to bring more swimmers to the national title meet.

“We need to recruit and get the guys we have to be significantly better,” Looze said. “We’ll have to come in next year with a bigger team and more point potential.”

Ress said he agrees.

“One thing that I learned is redefining what fast is,” he said. “What we defined as fast this year isn’t as fast as we thought. We had a lot of guys right on the border this year, and we have so many guys from this meet returning. We will only get better and the leadership we took from captains will only make us stronger.”

– By Kevin Loughery

Softball
Big Ten opener yields doubleheader split with Wisconsin

IU (5-23, 1-3) was able to get its first Big Ten win of the season  Saturday, knocking off Wisconsin (11-21, 1-3) 3-2 in the second game of a doubleheader split.

Sophomore pitcher Sara Olsen led the Hoosiers on both sides of the ball. Olsen delivered a complete game on the mound, holding the Badgers to two runs. The sophomore also went 3-for-3 and drove in a run for the Hoosiers.

Olsen relieved senior Ashley Hobbs after Hobbs let up three runs in the first inning of the opening game. She pitched the rest of the day, completing a total of 13 2/3 innings on the mound and let up only three earned runs.

Offensively, the Hoosiers were led by the hot bat of senior shortstop Emily Bergeson. Stalling after a fast start to the season, Bergeson got back on track with a home run in both games Saturday, giving her three on the season.

IU coach Michelle Gardner has repeatedly stressed timely hitting and getting her leaders to step up, and Olsen and Bergeson’s performances Saturday fulfilled Gardner’s wish.

Taking two of three games in their brief home stand is something the Hoosiers will look to build on as they head to Evansville and Northwestern this week.

 – By Connor O’Gara

Track and Field
8 Hoosiers qualify for regional championships

Moving outside was no problem for the IU track and field team.

Competing in the Alabama Relays in their first outdoor event of the season, the Hoosiers posted eight regional qualification marks.

IU coach Ron Helmer said given the weather, he was pleased with the season’s start.
“In so-so weather conditions we had eight regional qualifiers, which is a great start for us,” Helmer said. “We had some wins and it was a good solid opener for us.”

Sophomore Stephanie Chin in pole vault, sophomore Kristen Crawford in shot put, freshman Derek Drouin in high jump, senior Paul Fearnow in hammer throw, senior Tiffany Howard in shot put, senior Kiwan Lawson in long jump, junior Vera Neuenswander in pole vault and freshman Olumide Olamigoke in triple jump qualified for the regional competition.

Helmer said he is confident in his team’s overall ability moving forward, despite the tough opposition that lies ahead.

“We will have high-high level competition, but I think we are ready to have a positive time if we compete well.”

 – By Ari Shifron

Water Polo
Team struggles in home opening tournament

Playing in its own pool at the The Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center for the first time this season did not yield the results IU (13-14, 4-1) had hoped for.  

The Hoosiers hosted the Fluid Four, which consisted of IU, Michigan, Sonoma State and Maryland. They played Sonoma State on Saturday afternoon and cruised to a 13-4 victory.

The Hoosiers lost a 7-6 heartbreaker to No. 14 Michigan on Saturday night. A game-tying, last-second shot by senior Maggie Hannon on Senior Night just missed the goal, sending the game into overtime.

The Hoosiers finished the tournament with a 11-9 loss to Maryland on Sunday afternoon. 

Although IU coach Barry King said he thought his team played well enough to win in both Saturday games, he was disappointed in the effort the team gave against Maryland.

“I thought we got outplayed on Sunday,” King said. “We certainly got out-efforted to the ball, and we ended up putting ourselves in a lot of bad positions defensively.”

– By Andrew Wyder

Women's Golf
Hoosiers finish fourth in tournament

For the second straight tournament, the IU women’s golf team climbed back from a slow start to a top five finish.

After a sixth-place start to the weekend, the Hoosiers finished the Mountain View Collegiate in fourth place Sunday in Tucson, Ariz. Juniors Laura Nochta and Anita Gahir led the team, with Gahir finishing tied for third individually.

Nochta has led the Hoosiers throughout the season, but IU coach Clint Wallman said he could feel Gahir coming into her own.

“I could see this coming as I watched her play over the last couple of weeks,” Wallman said, “This will be a big confidence boost heading into our tournament. 

Gahir tallied a 68 in the final round, matching her personal best. Gahir’s total was also one stroke shy of the tournament record.

Wallman said the weekend’s strong play will pay dividends as the season winds down.
“Mountain View has always been a good course for us,” Wallman said, “This year the field was very strong, so to post a low round today will give us a boost for the remainder of the season.”

– By Ryan Winn