For the first time this season, IU Coach Ramiro Azcui had all nine players at his disposal for the Hoosiers’ final dual match before conference play. But even with a full lineup, things started out a little shaky.
In their first match against West Virginia, the Hoosiers dropped all three doubles matches to the Mountaineers, giving WVU a 1-0 advantage.
Despite things starting out shaky, the Hoosiers were not thrown off. Seniors Kim Schmider and Paula Gutierrez and sophomore Natalie Whalen won their singles matches to put the team up 3-1. The Mountaineers cut it to 3-2 before sophomore Caitlin Bernard scored an 8-6 tiebreaker in her second set to clinch the match. IU won 4-3.
“I don’t think we came with the same energy in the doubles that we usually come with,” Azcui said. “I told the team that they would have to be ready to play in singles and they accepted the challenge and played really strong.”
IU took that momentum and carried it over to its second match two hours later against Southern Illinois-Carbondale and picked up a 7-0 victory.
This time around, all three of IU’s doubles teams won, and from there the singles were able to use the momentum and clinch the match.
“We knew we were going to be more tired in this second match,” Whalen said. “But we wanted to stay focused and after getting that first win everyone played a lot more loosely. I think the confidence increased after that.”
After these two wins, the Hoosiers picked up their fourth consecutive victory and improved their record to 9-5 on the season.
Whalen said the team looks to use their momentum from these wins and carry it over into the Big Ten season.
The Hoosiers will travel to Iowa City this Saturday to take on the Hawkeyes and begin conference play.
“We knew that this was a big weekend for us in order to be able to go into the Big Ten,” Azcui said. “We’re excited to get ready for an Iowa team who is very good. I like the way the team responded today and I think we’re ready.”
