The Iowa men’s and women’s tennis teams had their roles reversed over the weekend. The men’s team battled and lost on the road, while the women’s squad grabbed a pair of desperately-needed wins at home.

The women’s team turned its season back around after defeating Purdue and Indiana at the Hawkeye Tennis Recreation Center. Iowa defeated the Boilermakers, 4-1, on March 29 before taking down Indiana, 4-3, on Sunday.

Coming into this weekend the Hawkeyes had won just one of their last eight dual matches, putting them at a dead-even record at 8-8 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten.  After a long road trip of hardship and tough lessons, Iowa used what it learned on the road to force four third-set tiebreakers against Purdue, winning two with the others going unfinished.

It was freshman Sophie Clark who came to the rescue this time, besting Amina Mukhametshina of Purdue in a third-set tiebreaker to seal the Hawkeyes’ much-needed victory.

“I felt the pressure on me; it was a bit tight,” Clark said. “I’m so happy to get the win, it was very emotional. Everyone was running on the court and we just felt like a big family.”

Knowing her team was 0-4 in the Big Ten, head coach Sasha Schmid knew this would be the make or break point for the Hawkeyes this season.

“For sure [this win saved our season], I mean we were not happy to be 0-4 in the Big Ten,” Schmid said. “And I didn’t really feel like it represented this team, yet I can’t keep saying that unless we go out and get wins. With a young team, no seniors on the court, lots of freshmen out there and sophomores, this is the moment they have to go through and I think now having had this will help them in the future.”

The win was exactly what the Hawkeyes needed in order to restore their confidence. Iowa dropped the doubles point against the Hoosiers for the first time in four matches, but it didn’t faze them.

The Hawkeyes won the tightly contested match after freshman Michelle Bacalla came up clutch in the deciding match on Court 5. She completed a three-set comeback after dropping the first set, 6-0, and went on to win the match, 0-6,7-5,6-3.

“I really thought about previous matches where I was in similar situations,” Bacalla said. “I knew this was my time to really go after it and leave everything on the court. I felt confident and will do anything for this team.”

Back above .500, Iowa will resume Big Ten action Friday against Rutgers at home to attempt to improve on its 2-4 conference record.

The men’s team, however, wasn’t as successful. After winning four of its last five matches, including a perfect 3-0 start in the Big Ten, Iowa dropped both matches to Northwestern and No. 14 Illinois, and it wasn’t even close.

Between both Big Ten matches, the Hawkeyes only managed to secure the doubles point once and picked up just one singles win. Iowa lost to the Wildcats, 6-1, and then continued its struggles, losing 5-1 to the Fighting Illini to put it at 3-2 in the conference and 12-6 overall.

Only sophomore Will Davies picked up a win, besting Gui Gomes of Illinois, 6-3, 6-2, to improve to a team-best 13-3 singles record.

Iowa will look to get back on track when it returns home to host Penn State and Ohio State in more conference play this weekend. The Hawkeyes will look to improve upon their 10-1 home record this season.