Only a few months following the conclusion of the fall season, the Indiana women's tennis team made its spring season debut Sunday in a 5-2 loss against the University of Utah at the IU Tennis Center.
The Hoosiers came into the match shorthanded due to having multiple players out due to COVID-19 protocols. This disadvantage ultimately forced the Hoosiers to forfeit the third doubles match and the sixth singles match of the day.
Sunday's match against Utah marks the first time Indiana has played against a nonconference opponent dating back to March 8, 2020, when Indiana hosted Miami University.
Due to the lack of players and the forfeits made by Indiana, Utah jumped out to a 2-0 lead before a singles match was played. The Utes only needed to win one match after the forfeits to get the doubles match point and eventually won the second doubles match to give themselves the clinching point.
Only two of the three scheduled doubles matches were played. Junior Rose Hu and sophomore Lara Schneider played the first doubles match for Indiana and fought to a 4-4 tie to open the first set, but the match was stopped and ruled as unfinished for undisclosed reasons. Senior Emily Dush and senior Anastasia Goncharova from Utah defeated junior Alexandra Staiculescu and junior Mila Mejic 6-3 for the lone completed doubles game of the day.
A 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 win by redshirt freshman Lara Schneider in the first singles match and a second win by Staiculescu, a 6-2, 6-3 result, gave the Hoosiers their first and only points of the day. The shorthanded Hoosiers couldn’t maintain their success from that point and weren't able to secure another win in the following four singles matches.
The Utes added another win to their undefeated start to the season and moved to 6-0, while the Hoosiers fell to 0-1.
Indiana will face Yale University on Friday and Marquette University Sunday back at the IU Tennis Center.
