No. 10 seed IU lost to No. 7 seed Michigan State 4-2 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
The Hoosiers finish the season 17-11. IU’s 17 wins is its most since the 2013-2014 season.
Senior Xiwei Cai and junior Natalie Whalen cruised to a 6-0 win in the No.3 doubles spot, but junior Madison Appel and Jelly Bozovic lost 7-5 in No. 1 doubles and sophomore Caitlin Bernard and freshman Olga Zavarotnaya lost 7-6 in the No. 2 spot and Michigan State grabbed an early 1-0 lead.
Cai lost 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles and Bozovic lost 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 at No. 5 singles. The Spartans took a 3-1 lead.
Appel won 6-4, 6-3 at No.1 singles and Whalen won 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to cut the lead to 3-2.
Zavarotnaya lost 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 at No. 6 singles and Michigan State clinched the match. Bernard did not finish at No. 3 singles because the match had already been decided and Michigan State won 4-2.
IU lost 4-0 to Michigan State in East Lansing, Michigan, earlier this season.
Bernard finished with a team best 17-9 singles record in dual match play. Appel, Bozovic, freshman Michelle McKamey and Zavarotnaya each finished with a winning singles record.
IU is only losing Cai from its roster this season. IU will return next season with two seniors, four juniors, three sophomores and four-star recruit Somer Henry out of Brentwood High School in Franklin, Tennessee.
Lauralys Shallow
