The Iowa women’s tennis team’s trip to Indiana proved to be less than happy trails. After devastating 4-3 loss to Indiana — the Hawkeyes had a 3-0 lead before falling apart — Iowa followed up with another road loss, a 6-1 debacle at Purdue.

Heading into Purdue on a three-match losing streak, the Hawkeyes were desperate to get ahead early; falling behind early in doubles matches has been a theme for the squad so far this season.

At the No. 1 position, No. 47 Anastasia Reimchen and Elise van Heuvelen defeated Silvia Ambrosio and Caitlin Calkins (6-4). After seeing the intensity and focus of Reimchen and van Heuvelen, Iowa senior Zoe Douglas and junior Adorabol Huckleby followed suit. The pair ousted Zala Dovnik and Ena Babic of Purdue (6-3) to clinch the doubles point.

“I’m proud of the way we battled for the doubles point [Sunday],” said head coach Sasha Schmid.

Through doubles play, it looked as if the Hawkeyes had figured out how to play on the road, returning well while making their opponents move laterally.

But then again, just like the loss to Indiana, Iowa got comfortable. Falling behind 1-0 was all the fuel the Boilermakers needed to get back into the match.

At the No. 1 position in singles, Ambrosio bested sophomore van Heuvelen in a hard match that went to a third-set tiebreaker. Ambrosio won (6-7 [5-7], 6-4, 1-0 [10-3]).

After dropping the first point in singles play to Purdue, Iowa tried to regroup at No. 2. Veteran leader Douglas attempted to avoid a team-leading eighth-straight loss in singles but to no avail — Douglas lost in straight sets (7-5,6-3) to Caitlin Bernard.

Now, after seeing their lead dwindle into a deficit, it looked as if the Hawkeyes had seen this story before. Being up with a lead early was not an out-of-body experience for Iowa, but keeping a lead has been a struggle this season.

The day before, during Iowa’s loss to Indiana, the Hawkeyes started off strong.

Van Heuvelen snagged a win for Iowa in singles, taking down Madison Appel in straight sets (6-2, 6-2). Reimchen beat Natalie Whalen (7-5, 6-3) to give Iowa the 3-0 lead and all the momentum.

But from there, everything went downhill for the Black and Gold, and the Hoosiers took over.

Douglas lost to Indiana’s Caitlin Bernard in straight sets (7-5, 6-3) — her seventh-straight loss in singles play — and the Hoosiers went on a rally the Hawkeyes had no answer for.

Xiwei Cai of Indiana defeated a red-hot Huckleby, who came off a convincing victory last week against Ohio State, in a third-set tiebreaker.

Following Huckleyby’s demoralizing defeat, the Hoosiers finished off the Hawkeyes at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions to give them the 4-3 victory.

“[The] loss was a heartbreaker,” Schmid said. “We are on the road and up 3-0, and we couldn’t close to get the fourth point today. I credit Indiana for competing hard.”