Indiana women’s tennis started its spring season with a smashing start, knocking off the University of Cincinnati 6-1 on Sunday afternoon at the IU Tennis Center in Bloomington.
Indiana took an early 1-0 lead in the match by securing the doubles point. Indiana’s No. 3 doubles pair of sophomore Elisbeth Dunac and freshman Nicole Sifuentes were the first to pick up a victory by defeating Cincinnati’s senior Callie Flanagan and sophomore Gabrielle Guenther 6-0.
The No. 1 doubles match resulted in the Hoosiers’ redshirt senior Lara Schnieder and junior Nicole Teodosescu topping the Bearcats’ pairing of graduate student Zeynep Erman and junior Rozalia Gruszczynska, 6-2, to give Indiana the doubles point.
The singles matches were far more competitive between the two schools. Indiana freshman, the former five-star recruit, Marina Fuduric picked up her first win as a Hoosier as she rolled to a 6-0, 6-3 win over Cincinnati junior Rozalia Gruszczynska on singles court No. 2.
Sophomore Magdalena Swiercyzynska gave Indiana its third point of the match with her 6-2, 6-3 victory over Cincinnati sophomore Sakurako Watanabe on the No. 5 singles court. Singles court No. 4 was not too far behind as Sifuentes took yet another point behind a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 victory over freshman Milicia Popovski, clinching an Indiana victory. Not only was Sifuentes’ win the overall match clincher, but it was also her first singles win as a Hoosier.
With the result of the match already decided, Cincinnati won its lone point on singles court No. 1, where graduate student Zeynep Erman defeated Teodosescu 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
On singles court No. 6, Indiana sophomore Elisabeth Dunac dropped the first set 0-6 before turning it around in a major way by taking the next two sets 6-0 and 6-3 to defeat Flanagan.
The final match of the afternoon was also the most competitive one. Schneider defeated Cincinnati’s Gabrielle Guenther in three sets to wrap up the day. Schnieder dropped the first set 4-6 before roaring back to flip the score and take the second set, 6-4. With the overall match already decided, the two played in a super-tiebreaker rather than a full third set to settle their match. Eventually, it was Schneider who prevailed, 10-6, in the tiebreaker.
Sunday’s victory match marks the first for new head coach Gabrielle Moore, who previously coached at McNeese State University.
The Hoosiers will return to the IU Tennis Center for a doubleheader with Butler University and the University of Southern Indiana on Jan. 26.
Follow reporter Noah Gerkey (@Noah_Gerk) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s tennis season.
