The energy inside of the IU Tennis Center was palpable. Chants of “Indi-ana” rained down toward the court as Indiana’s Elisabeth Dunac was on the verge of completing a three-set comeback and winning the match for the home squad.
With both teams knotted up at 3, the sophomore had a chance for a momentum-altering win.
The Hoosiers entered Saturday’s match against the University of Louisville on a three-game losing streak after starting the season 3-0. The opportunity for Indiana to break that streak was there for the taking, and it all came down on Dunac’s shoulders.
Dunac dropped the first set to Cardinals sophomore Germany Davis in heartbreaking fashion, 7-5, before storming back in set two, winning it with ease, 6-3. The all-important third set was a clear example of how the overall match was entertaining and emotional.
Dunac jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the set, capitalizing on her service games. Davis responded, winning each of the next four games to take a 4-3 lead. The two went back-and-forth in the next five games and were forced to play a tiebreaker to decide the match.
The Indiana men’s tennis team was awaiting its match that was set to start after the conclusion of the women’s match. It took the opportunity to provide support and major energy on behalf of its fellow Hoosiers.
Loud cheers of “Go Red, Go White,” were present throughout the tennis center, and with each tiebreaker point, those cheers grew louder. Dunac fell behind 3-1 in the tiebreaker before winning each of the next 4 points to claim a 5-3 lead.
Some fans rose to their feet, some clapped, the energy shifted, they could feel it. The win the Hoosiers needed to get back on track was just 2 points away. They were in prime position. Davis had other ideas, however, as she won each of the next 3 points to force a match point, and a 6-5 lead for the Cardinals sophomore.
After splitting the next 2 points, the score sat at 7-6, and Davis needed just 1 more point to seal the deal for the road squad. The rally during match point spanned 27 shots, and as Davis’ forehand runner trickled over the net, the energy that was once so present throughout the Hoosier faithful had quickly vanished.
Indiana dropped a heartbreaker 4-3 to fall to 3-4 on the season.
Despite losing four straight, Indiana head coach Gabrielle Moore is stressing to her team to continue the work and to trust that positive results will follow.
“We have to be consistent and know that this is working, and if you keep pushing, the results will come,” Moore said after Saturday’s match. “We need to keep showing up and believing in ourselves, we can’t get this match back, but it’s something you remember and build off of.”
***
The match started with Indiana having to play from behind as it dropped the doubles point. Redshirt senior Lara Schneider and freshman Marina Fuduric defeated Louisville redshirt senior Allie Gretkowski and sophomore Lika Peresypkina 6-2.
Louisville claimed the doubles point with back-to-back wins on the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles courts. On the No. 2 doubles court, junior Alice Otis and freshman Elisabeth Lila prevailed 6-3 over Indiana sophomore Li Hsin Lin and freshman Nicole Sifuentes.
The decisive No. 3 doubles court concluded shortly after when sophomores Berta Miret and Elena Noguero won 6-4 over Dunac and junior Nicole Teodosescu.
Sifuentes picked up Indiana’s first point on the No. 4 singles court with her win over Gretkowski 7-6, 6-3.
Indiana picked up yet another win, this time on the No. 2 singles court where Fuduric knocked off Peresypkina in straight sets 6-2, 6-4.
Schneider kept the winning going with her 7-5, 6-2 victory over Noguero to make Indiana’s lead 3-1.
The Cardinals responded with back-to-back victories on singles courts No. 5 and No. 1. Lila defeated sophomore Magdalena Swierczynska 7-6, 6-3 to tighten the score to 3-2.
Teodosescu dropped her first set to Otis 6-0, before rolling through the second set 6-2. With momentum up for grabs, Otis took advantage as she raced out to a 5-2 lead in the third set. Then, something sparked for the Indiana junior. She got on a roll and won the next two games to tighten it up at 5-4.
Otis, who had just hit herself with her racket and thrown a ball against the back wall in frustration, turned her frustration into energy and took the final game 6-4 to win her match.
Louisville’s Davis then defeated Dunac in a three-set thriller 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6). The win secured the match for Louisville.
Indiana is now set to host a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Friday inside the IU Tennis Center in Bloomington against Western Michigan University and Chicago State University.
These next two matches for Indiana look to serve as momentum for Moore and her squad before jumping into Big Ten play.
“We need some momentum,” Moore said. “It’s hard to get that momentum when these are the results we are getting…we have got to lock in and hopefully that can give us some confidence and momentum going forward.”
Follow reporter Noah Gerkey (@Noah_Gerk) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s tennis season.
