Less than a week after upsetting No. 58 Michigan State, Indiana women’s tennis had a chance to carry its momentum into two weekend matches.
The opportunity was there, but the Hoosiers couldn’t capitalize on the road.
On Friday, Indiana traveled to the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis to face Minnesota. Both teams entered the match in similar situations. Minnesota was in the midst of a three-match losing streak and had lost seven of its last eight matches. Coming into the match, Indiana had lost six of its previous eight matches.
With just four matches remaining until the Big Ten Tournament, the Hoosiers looked to build off of their recent success and finish the season strong. However, Indiana ultimately fell 4-1 to Minnesota.
The Hoosiers fell behind early as they failed to capture the doubles point. The doubles point has been crucial to Indiana’s wins and losses this year — in seven of the Hoosiers’ eight wins, they have taken the doubles point. In all 11 of their losses entering Friday, they have lost the doubles point.
A pair of Minnesota juniors, Arina Valitova and Aiva Schmitz, defeated sophomore Elisabeth Dunac and freshman Marina Fuduric 6-4 on the No. 3 doubles court.
Indiana fought back on the No. 1 doubles court, as redshirt senior Lara Schneider and junior Nicole Teodosescu knocked off junior Anali Kocevar and sophomore Mia Liepert.
On the No. 2 doubles court, Minnesota junior Sofia Pinto and sophomore Jeselle Ante sealed the doubles point with their 6-4 win over Indiana sophomore Li Hsin Lin and freshman Nicole Sifuentes.
The winning continued for Minnesota in singles play.
Pinto defeated Lin in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1 on the No. 4 singles court. Liepert shortly followed suit with her 6-3, 6-4 win over Fuduric on the No. 2 singles court.
Teodosescu tried to get Indiana back in the match, claiming a 7-5, 6-1 win over Kocevar on the No. 3 singles court. That win cut Minnesota’s lead to 3-1, but it was the last victory the Hoosiers secured.
Ante defeated Sifuentes in a three-set match 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 to seal the match for the home squad.
The Hoosiers then traveled Sunday to the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, to face No. 25 Wisconsin.
Wisconsin entered Sunday as one of the hottest teams in the country and winners of 14 of its last 16 matches. The Badgers continued their stretch of dominant tennis, defeating Indiana 4-1.
Indiana continued the trend of dropping the doubles point again Sunday.
Wisconsin senior Ariel Johnson and junior Maria Sholokhova defeated Schneider and Teodosescu 6-4 on the No. 1 doubles court. Then, the Badgers’ pairing of senior Taylor Cataldi and freshman Ekaterina Ivanova did the same on the No. 2 doubles court, winning 6-4. The two wins gave Wisconsin an early 1-0 lead.
Sholokhova breezed past Schneider 6-4, 6-1 on the No. 1 singles court, and Cataldi had no trouble with Fuduric, winning 6-1, 6-2 on the No. 2 singles court.
Wisconsin sealed the match on the No. 4 singles court with freshman Tiana Rangan’s 6-2, 6-2 win over Lin.
The Hoosiers’ lone point came from Sifuentes’ 6-4, 6-3 win on the No. 5 singles court.
The loss dropped the Hoosiers to 8-13 on the season and 2-9 in Big Ten play this year. The two matches on the weekend were the last two road matches of the year.
Indiana finished winless at 0-8 this season on the road.
The Hoosiers will return home with two final matches before the Big Ten Tournament. The first of those two matches is slated for 4 p.m. Friday against Illinois at the IU Tennis Center in Bloomington.
Follow reporter Noah Gerkey (@Noah_Gerk) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s tennis season.
