Raleigh, N.C. — The University of Iowa women’s tennis team fell to Alabama, 4-2, on Sunday afternoon on the second day of the ITA Kickoff weekend at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.
The Crimson Tide claimed the doubles point with victories on courts one and three. Senior Vipasha Mehra and sophomore Nikita Vishwase dropped their match to pair Anne Marie Hiser and Loudmilla Bencheikh, 6-4. Sophomore Pia Kranholdt and junior Barbora Pokorna fought, but the duo was on the short end of a 6-1 loss to Margaux Maquet and Ola Pitak.
Freshman Chelsea Bluestein and sophomore Daianne Hayashida battled on court two against Petra Sedlackova and Anna Parkhomenko, bringing the match to 5-4 before it went unfinished due to the point being secured.
The Hawkeyes earned wins at No. 1 and No. 4 in singles. Hayashida kicked it off on court one with her straight set victory over Bencheikh, 6-2, 6-0. Pokorna also took the straight set win, downing Pitak on court four, 6-3, 6-3.
Alabama secured the dual meet victory with wins on No. 2, 3 and 5.
QUOTING HEAD COACH SASHA SCHMID
“It was a hard fought match today. It was tough to be short, but I feel good about how hard our team is competing. We played two quality teams this weekend, and I know it’s tough to be short of four points, but there is a lot of good things to take away from it. The team improved a great day from match-to-match. I am happy with the progress, and we are going to keep learning, growing and fighting. I am proud of the way they continued to compete all weekend.”
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes will return to action on Feb. 3-4, facing Kansas State and Denver in the Rocky Mountain State.
FINAL RESULTS
Alabama 4, Iowa 2
SINGLES
No. 1 – #109 Daianne Hayashida (UI) def. Loudmilla Bencheikh (AL): 6-2, 6-0
No. 2 –Petra Sedlackova (AL) def. Chelsea Bluestein (UI): 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
No. 3 – Margaux Maquet (AL) def. Marisa Schmidt (UI): 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4
No. 4 – Barbora Pokorna (UI) def. Ola Pitak (AL): 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 – Anne Marie Hiser (AL) def. Nikita Vishwase (UI): 6-0, 6-1
No. 6 – Anna Parkhomenko (AL) vs. Pia Kranholdt (UI): 6-2, 1-1, unfinished
DOUBLES
No. 1 – Hiser/Bencheikh (AL) def. Mehra/Vishwase (UI): 6-4
No. 2 – Sedlackova/Parkhomenko (AL) vs. Bluestein/Hayashida (UI): 5-4, unfinished
No. 3 – Maquet/Pitak (AL) def. Kranholdt/Pokorna (UI): 6-1
Order of Finish: Singles (1,4,2,5,3); Doubles (3,1)