Indiana women’s tennis lost 5-2 to Utah University on Friday night but finished the road trip on the right foot, winning 4-2 against the University of Colorado Boulder on Sunday afternoon.
Against Utah, the Hoosiers lost all three doubles matches by 6-1.
For the singles, Hoosiers’ No. 5 graduate student Lauren Lemonds lost 6-2 and 6-1, and No. 3 redshirt junior Alexandra Staiculescu lost 6-3 and 6-4.
In for redshirt junior Xiaowei "Rose" Hu at No. 6, Indiana freshman Nicole Teodosescu made her debut for the Hoosiers. She fought hard and played a close game but was defeated 7-5 and 6-4.
The other singles matches were played despite Utah being awarded the win with a score of 4-0 overall.
Hoosiers’ No. 4 redshirt junior Mila Mejic lost 6-2, 6-7 (2-7) and 6-2.
To end the losing streak, No. 2 graduate student Saby Nihalani won 6-1, 3-6 and 6-1, and No. 1 sophomore Lara Schneider won 6-2, 6-7 (1-7) and 7-5, giving the Hoosiers their only two wins of the night.
The Hoosiers have never won against Utah in the series' history, as they also lost to the Utes in their first matchup in Jan. 2022.
Looking to rebound from Friday’s loss, Indiana played Colorado for the first time in program history on Sunday.
Battling for the doubles point, the Hoosiers started out with No. 2 Mejic and Lemonds being shut down 6-0. However, Indiana came right back with No. 3 Staiculescu and Hu winning 6-3.
To win the doubles point, Hoosiers Schneider and Nihalani won 7-6 (7-1) to reach their seventh win this season.
For the singles, Teodosescu played at No. 5, this time in for Lemonds, and lost 6-4 and 6-3.
Hoosiers No. 2 Nihalani won 6-2 and 6-3, and No. 3 Staiculescu won 7-5 and 6-4.
At No. 4, Mejic lost 6-0, 1-6 and 6-1. Schneider won 6-3, 6-7 (5-7) and 6-2 at No. 1 to give the Hoosiers the win in Boulder.
With two losses this weekend, Mejic lost the lead in most singles victories (six) for the Hoosiers, as Nihalani won both of her matches and reached seven wins this season.
Indiana’s No. 6 Hu was ahead, but her match ended unfinished with the partial score of 6-3 and 1-0.
With this weekend’s results, Indiana has won three of the last five games and is 6-3 overall this season.
Indiana plays Western Michigan University and Belmont University back-to-back at home on Feb. 25 and 26.
Follow reporter(@Leordpaes) for updates throughout the match and the rest of the Indiana women’s tennis season.
