Iowa women’s tennis lost its home match against No. 37 Northwestern, 6-1, on Sunday afternoon. 

The Hawkeyes fell short in the doubles point for the 10th straight match.

Northwestern’s Clarissa Hand and Briana Crowley defeated Iowa’s Samantha Gillas and Michelle Bacalla (6-2) in the No. 2 doubles spot. Then, the Wildcats’ Sydney Pratt and Hannah Mccolgan defeated the Hawkeyes’ Vipasha Mehra and Marisa Schmidt (6-1) in the No. 3 doubles spot. The No. 1 match went unfinished.

The Hawkeyes then lost five of their six singles matches against the Wildcats.

Northwestern’s Hand defeated Schmidt at the No. 1 spot in a back-and-forth battle in three sets, by a score of  (6-2, 1-6, 6-1). In the No. 2 singles match, Northwestern’s Maria Shusharina defeated Barbora Pokorna in two sets (6-4, 6-3).

Northwestern’s Pratt defeated Samantha Mannix (6-1, 6-2) at No. 3. Northwestern’s Ema Lazic defeated Gillas at the No. 4 spot (6-1, 6-2).

Big Picture

Iowa is now 4-13 overall this season, extending the program’s losing streak to 12 consecutive matches.

The Hawkeyes are 0-6 in the conference, tying their worst start to Big Ten play since 2015-16.

Letdown

Bacalla lost her eighth straight singles match of the season and now has a 3-13 overall singles record. 

At the No. 6 spot, Northwestern’s Christina Hand defeated Bacalla (6-1, 6-3). The senior from Skokie, Illinois, has been rotated between the No. 2-6 singles spots all season.

Role Player

Iowa’s lone point came from the No. 5 singles match, when Mehra defeated Northwestern’s Justine Leong (3-6, 7-6 (5), 10-8). Mehra collected her fourth consecutive win of the season and now holds an 8-7 overall record.

Iowa women’s tennis head coach Sasha Schmid moved Mehra back up to the No. 5 spot for the third time this season after her recent success in the No. 6 spot.

Up Next

Iowa will take on Maryland in College Park, Maryland, on April 8 at 4:30 p.m. 

The Terrapins are 13-4 overall this season and 2-3 in Big Ten matches. Maryland holds a 10-match win streak at home.