The IU women’s tennis team’s season has been full of inconsistent weekends. This past one was no different, where IU beat Cornell University on Saturday and lost to Yale University on Sunday. Both games were played on the road.
IU’s 4-1 win over Cornell in West Point, New York, began with doubles victories from senior Annabelle Andrinopoulos and junior Jelly Bozovic, along with senior Caitlin Bernard and freshman Alexandra Staiculescu. Both matches finished 6-3, while senior Michelle McKamey and freshman Mila Mejic’s match was left unfinished.
Andrinopoulos, McKamey and freshman Rose Hu won their singles to secure the victory for the Hoosiers after the team won the doubles point. Cornell freshman Michelle Deng beat Bozovic to win the Big Red’s lone point.
In New Haven, Connecticut, on Sunday, IU didn’t get off to the type of fast start it did against Cornell the day before.
Bernard and Staiculescu lost their doubles match 6-3, and McKamey and Mejic lost theirs 6-2, giving the opening point to the Bulldogs. Andrinopoulos and Bozovic looked to be on their way to a doubles loss as well, trailing 5-2 but it went unfinished.
The Hoosiers fought back in singles, but Yale’s performance on the top courts was the difference.
On the No. 1 court, Yale junior Samantha Martinelli beat Bernard in two sets. On the No. 2 court, Yale freshman Chelsea Kung came back to beat Andrinopoulos in three sets after she dropped the first.
The Hoosiers won their points on the No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6 courts with wins from Staiculescu, McKamey and Mejic.
The loss to Yale is the second match that came down to the final point this season for IU. The first was a 4-3 win at the United States Naval Academy on Feb. 7.
Although the Hoosiers have yet to build a long winning streak, they bounced back from each of their four losses, and have not lost two straight matches this season.
The doubles point has been a good indicator of IU’s wins and losses. Only once has the team come back to win after dropping the doubles point, which came Jan. 25 against the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Now at 6-4 overall, the Hoosiers will conclude their nonconference schedule with a weekend doubleheader at home.
On Sunday, IU will play the University of Cincinnati at 11 a.m. and Ball State University at 5 p.m. After those matches, all attention will be turned to Big Ten play, which begins Feb. 28 against Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois.
