Trojans Fall to IWU in League Opener

MARION, Ind. – The TU women's tennis team opened the 2019 Crossroads League schedule on Tuesday by battling NAIA No. 9 Indiana Wesleyan and falling to the host Wildcats 7-0.

Taylor (0-1, 0-1) was unable to secure a win on the day, allowing IWU (1-0, 1-0) to capture the lopsided win.

This year in a new scoring format, the NAIA has adopted the NCAA rules where one team point is awarded to the team who can secure two-of-three doubles contests whereas the three doubles matches formerly had counted as three separate points toward the team's score. In Tuesday's match, IWU landed all three wins, earning one team point. The Trojans' closest contest was in the No. 2 doubles position where Julianna Hotmire and Molly Pile fell 6-2 to Lena Golz and Kayla Dubuque.

Taylor was unable to gain much momentum on the singles court as all six positions fell in two-set matches. Katelyn Gray, who made her first career appearance in the No. 1 singles slot, and freshman Lauryn Riegscker in the No. 3 position posted the best scores of the day with both finishing the day with a 6-2 and 6-0 tally.

"I did a poor job getting our team off to a good start today, but the ladies responded well after doubles," said Coach Jon Wegener. "I felt like we competed better in singles and am happy with how our team never gave up. We're developing a great culture on this team, and I'm excited to see where it goes. I'm proud of these ladies."

The Trojans will host their first home contest of the 2019 season on Thursday against Lawrence Tech. The match is slated for a 2:00 p.m. start.

Indiana Wesleyan def. Taylor; 7-0

Doubles
No. 1 - Bemirderfer/Bauss (IWU) def. Gray/Riegsecker (TU); 6-0
No. 2 – Golz/Dubuque (IWU) def. Hotmire/Pile (TU); 6-2
No. 3 – Deveraja/Moore (IWU) def. Martin/Browning (TU); 6-1

Singles
No. 1 – Lizzie Bauss (IWU) def. Katelyn Gray (TU); 6-2, 6-0
No. 2 – Maddie Bemirderfer (IWU) def. Julianna Hotmire (TU); 6-1, 6-0
No. 3 – Lena Golz (IWU) def. Lauryn Riegsecker (TU); 6-0, 6-2
No. 4 – Thewoni Devaraja (IWU) def. Kiersten Martin (TU); 6-0, 6-0
No. 5 – Laura Moore (IWU) def. Lydia Browning (TU); 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 – Ellie Snider (IWU) def. Molly Pile (TU); 6-0, 6-0