Indiana women’s tennis traveled to West Lafayette on Saturday and lost 4-1 to rival Purdue. With the loss, the Hoosiers fell to 13-9 this season, including 4-6 in the Big Ten.
To start the match, the Hoosier’s No. 2 double redshirt junior Alexandra Staiculescu and freshman Nicole Teodosescu were shut out 6-0 by Boilermakers senior Csilla Fodor and sophomore Carmen Gallardo Guevara. The double of Staiculescu and Teodosescu is now 1-3 in both overall and Big Ten play this season, with their only win coming against Michigan State.
At No. 1, Hoosiers sophomore Lara Schneider and graduate student Saby Nihalani were defeated 6-1 by Boilermakers redshirt senior Liz Norman and sophomore Tara Katarina Milic. Indiana’s No. 1 double fell to 10-6 overall and 2-4 in the conference, including 6-4 in its last 10 matches.
Redshirt junior Xiaowei "Rose" Hu and graduate student Lauren Lemonds were winning 4-3 at No. 3 for the Hoosiers against Boilmakers’ sophomore Juana Larranaga and freshman Kennedy Gibbs, but their match was unfinished since the Boilmakers had won the doubles point.
Indiana has failed to win the doubles point in eight of its last 10 matches, with its only wins coming against Michigan State and Rutgers.
In singles play, the Hoosiers started with a loss at No. 4 as Staiculescu was defeated 6-4 and 6-3 by the Boilermaker’s Gibbs. The loss brought Staiculescu to 5-14 this season, including 3-5 in the Big Ten, and extended her losing streak to two games.
The loss was followed by Indiana’s No. 3 redshirt junior Mila Mejic being defeated by Purdue’s Guevara 6-3 and 6-3. Mejic is now on a two-game losing streak and dropped to 11-9 overall and 3-5 in the Big Ten.
To keep the Hoosiers alive, Teodosescu relied on her hot streak. She won 7-5 and 6-3 against Purdue’s Milic and improved her winning streak to three games. The Hoosier’s No. 5 is now 8-5 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten.
Despite the win, Hu fell 6-4, 4-6 and 6-1 at No. 6 to Purdue’s Larranaga, awarding the Boilermakers the overall win. Hu dropped to 6-7 overall, including 2-4 in the conference, and she has lost her last two singles games.
The Hoosiers Schneider and Nihalani were playing tough matches, with Schneider being down 6-0, 3-6 and 4-5 at No. 1 and Nihalani 6-4, 2-6 and 3-4 at No. 2. Both of their games went unfinished after Purdue picked up the win.
Indiana is now 8-10 against Purdue historically and has lost eight of the last ten games against its rival, including a record of 1-6 in West Lafayette during that stretch.
With the loss this weekend, the Hoosiers dropped to 5-5 on the road this season and now look ahead to their match against Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin.
The Hoosiers play the Badgers on Friday to close out the regular season.
