Hawkeyes Fall in Tough Match Against No. 8 Northwestern, 4-3

Evanston, Illinois — The University of Iowa women’s tennis team suffered a 4-3 loss to No. 8 Northwestern on Sunday inside Combe Tennis Center. The Hawkeyes are now 6-4 in the Big Ten Conference.

The Hawkeyes came out on top earning the doubles point. Northwestern’s Christina Hand and Clarissa Hand defeated Iowa’s Elise van Heuvelen and Samantha Gillas, 6-2, at the No. 2 spot. Iowa battled back in the last two matches to take the 1-0 lead. Vipasha Mehra and Danielle Bauers defeated Northwestern’s Maria Shusharina and Hannah McColgan, 6-4, at the No. 3 spot. Iowa’s Alexa Noel and Samantha Mannix clinched the doubles point at the No. 1 defeating Julie Bryne and Briana Crowley 6-3.

The Hawkeyes opened singles with the first win at the No. 2 spot to take a 2-0 lead. Van Heuvelen won in straight sets defeating Clarissa Hand 6-1, 6-3. The Wildcats went on a three-game winning streak at the No. 5, No. 4 and No. 3 spots. Caroline Pozo defeated Iowa’s Michelle Bacalla 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 5 spot. Gillas battled in the second set but fell to Briana Crowley 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 4 spot. Mannix competed against Northwestern’s No. 57 ranked Julie Bryne at the No. 3 spot. The junior put up a hard fight, but fell 6-4, 6-2 to give Northwestern a 3-2 lead.

No. 97 Alexa Noel tied the match at three with her 15th singles win of the season. The freshman won in straight sets against Maria Shusharina 6-2, 6-3. Noel remains undefeated in singles playing at the No. 1 spot. Christina Hand clinched the victory for the Wildcats after defeating Vipasha Mehra 6-3, 6-3 at the No. 6 spot.

QUOTING @SASHASCHMID 

“Really heartbreaking loss today. Overall this was a tough weekend. To be on the short side of two 4-3 losses is really tough for our team. We are going to have to be resilient and we are going to have to double down on working hard to improve going forward. We have more challenging Big Ten matches ahead at a critical moment in the season. We have a great group and I know they are going to want to respond in the best way possible from the disappointments over the weekend.”

UP NEXT 

The Hawkeyes return home for the next two weeks. Iowa will face Wisconsin on March 19 inside the Hawkeye Recreation and Tennis Complex.  Action is set to start at 4 p.m, (CT). Live stats and video can be found on Iowa Women’s Tennis schedule page.

Iowa 3, Illinois 4
March 14, 2021 | 12 p.m. | Evanston Illinois | Combe Tennis Center

SINGLES  

  1. #97 Alexa Noel (IA) def. Maria Shusharina (NW): 6-2, 6-3
  2. Elise van Heuvelen Treadwell (IA) def. Clarissa Hand (NW): 6-1, 6-3
  3. #57 Julie Bryne (NW) def. Samantha Mannix (IA) 6-4, 6-2
  4. Briana Crowley (NW) def. Samantha Gillas (IA): 6-3, 6-4
  5. Caroline Pozo (NW) def. Michelle Bacalla (IA): 6-1, 6-2
  6. Christina Hand (NW) def. Vipasha Mehra (IA): 6-3, 6-3     

DOUBLES

  1. Noel/Mannix (IA) def. Bryne/Crowley (NW): 6-3
  2. Christina Hand/Clarissa Hand (NW) def. van Heuvelen/Gillas (IA): 6-2
  3. Bauers/Mehra (IA) def. Shusharina/McColgan (NW): 6-4Order of Finish: Doubles: (2,3,1); Singles: (2,5,4,3,1,6)