IU women’s tennis has won every dual match this season, but their next opponent, Marquette, was the last non-conference team to beat the Hoosiers in a dual.
Marquette, 1-1 this season, took down IU 4-2 in Bloomington last April.
The Golden Eagles won the doubles point followed by three singles matches victories to take the dual.
Then-senior Silvia Ambrose defeated IU junior Madison Appel 6-2, 6-4 in the No. 1 spot. Senior Paula Tormos beat IU sophomore Caitlin Bernard 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the No. 3 spot. Sophomore Fleur Eggink won 6-4, 6-2 against IU junior Natalie Whalen in the No. 4 spot.
Sophomore Pauline Jahren and now-graduated Paula Gutierrez won their singles matches and earned IU two points.
IU Coach Ramiro Azcui said his team has more recovery time and depth than last time they faced Marquette.
Last year, IU was coming off a hard-fought 4-3 win at Purdue. The Hoosiers played Marquette less than 24 hours after the conclusion of their match in West Lafayette.
IU has had a full week of recovery since their last match last weekend against Cincinnati and Xavier.
“I am expecting my players to come out strong,” Azcui said. “They are very eager in the way they are practicing, and we are deeper than last year.”
Freshmen Jelly Bozovic, Michelle McKamey and Olga Zavarotnaya are a combined 9-1 in dual match singles play, and Bozovic and McKamey are undefeated with 4-0 records.
IU will look for their freshmen to give the Hoosiers points they lacked in last year’s match.
Following their dual against the Golden Eagles, the Hoosiers play Cleveland State, which is 0-2.
IU met Cleveland State in the Western Michigan University Super Challenge this past November. IU went 3-0 in doubles and 3-2 in singles.
Appel and McKamey won 6-4, Bernard and Bozovic won 6-1 and sophomores Emma Love and Pauline Jahren won 7-6 in doubles.
Love took down freshman Anastasia Perin 7-5, 6-4. Jahren beat senior Jana Schober 6-2, 6-3. Bozovic defeated junior Isabella Spindler 6-3, 7-6.
Cleveland State plays at Dayton on Friday night before they travel to Bloomington.
The Hoosiers are 7-3 in doubles this season. Azcui said he still does not have a set doubles lineup.
“Every match, we have been switching partners and trying different things,” Azcui said. “We are trying to find the right combinations, so when Big Ten play starts, we are ready for that.”
The duo of Appel and McKamey are 3-1, and Bernard and Bozovic are 3-0.
The third doubles spot has seen the most change. Whalen and Zavarotnaya are 0-1, Whalen and Love are 0-1, and Jahren and Love are 1-0.
An injury also affects the doubles lineup.
Senior Xiwei Cai did not play in last weekend’s doubleheader against Cincinatti and Xavier because of an injury.
Cai competed in the Crimson Invite, going 1-1 in singles.
Cai lost to No. 4 player junior Katja Fevralev of Western Michigan 7-6, 7-6. Cai bounced back from her loss by defeating Butler’s No. 2 player senior Rachel Sutton 3-6, 6-0, 6-3.
IU Coach Azcui said Cai is a strong player for his lineup, and depending on her status, the doubles lineup could change.
First serve against Marquette will be Saturday at 11 a.m. at the IU Tennis Center, with a matchup against Cleveland State at 5 p.m.
