Tuesday, 04/27/2010

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The IU Women's Tennis regular season is officially in the books following a 6-1 defeat at No. 4 Michigan (20-3, 10-0) on Sunday. The No. 43 Hoosiers conclude the regular season at 15-8 overall and 5-5 in conference play.

Senior captain Lindsey Stuckey picked up the IU team point, pushing past Michigan's Rika Tatsuno in straight sets. The Greensboro, N.C., native out-lasted Tatsuno in an opening set tiebreaker, taking it 8-6. She then followed up with a 6-3 winner in the second stanza to clinch the victory.

Once the team outcome was determined, the Hoosiers retired the final two singles contests due to injuries with the Big Ten Tournament on the docket for next weekend (Apr. 29-May 2).

"Lindsay played great, one of the best matches of her career," said Head Coach Lin Loring. "We held Myriam (Sopel) out and retired the other matches because of injuries."

Juniors Charlotte Martin and Katya Zapadalova also notched a `W' against the Wolverines, combining for a doubles victory. The IU tandem won their tiebreaker, 8-6, for the 8-7 triumph at No. 3 doubles.

COMPLETE RESULTS
SINGLES
No. 1 -- No. 21 Denise Muresan (U-M) d. Leslie Hureau (IU), 6-1, 1-0 retired
No. 2 -- Whitney Taney (U-M) d. Evgeniya Vertesheva (IU), 6-1, 6-0
No. 3 -- Mimi Nguyen (U-M) d. Katya Zapadalova (IU), 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (5)
No. 4 -- Lindsey Stuckey (IU) d. Rika Tatsuno (U-M), 7-6 (6), 6-3
No. 5 -- Tania Mahtani (U-M) d. Charlotte Martin (IU), 6-4, 0-2 retired
No. 6 -- Michelle Sulahian (U-M) d. Maria Guerreiro (IU), 6-4, 6-1

DOUBLES
No. 1 -- No. 31 Taney/Tatsuno d. No. 70 Stuckey/Vertesheva (IU), 8-3
No. 2 -- Nguyen/Sulahian d. Hureau/Guerreiro (IU), 8-4
No. 3 -- Martin/Zapadalova (IU) d. Mahtani/Muresan (U-M), 8-7 (6)
Order of completion:
Doubles 1-2-3; Singles 1-2-6-5-3-4

Indiana is expected to be the No. 5 seed for the Big Ten Tourney. The top five teams receive a first-round bye and the Hoosiers are likely to face the host school and fourth-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes.