The Bulldogs beat Northwood University before suffering their first loss of the season against the University of Indianapolis. That brings the Bulldogs to a 3-1 record on the season.
The Bulldogs faced Northwood University on Saturday, Feb. 4, in a tough matchup that saw the Bulldogs come away with a 4-3 victory.
“It’s a great turnaround for us,” head coach Mark Doren said. “Last year, we lost 7-0… We’re [just] battling through some stuff, and they stuck it to us, but this year we came out strong, and to get a win over the defending GLIAC champions was kind of a huge deal for us, and [it] gave us a lot of momentum going into today, but yesterday was just impressive.”
The Bulldogs lost the doubles portion against Northwood University and were down going into the singles matches.
The Bulldog’s lone doubles win came from Ana Hernandez and Morgan Waller, as they defeated Northwood University’s Rafaella Fulop and Rafaella Platsiota 6-4.
Northwood’s Danijela Danilovic and Sophie-Malin Von Dusterlho defeated Sophie Daavettila and Amelia Laverdiere in a closely contested match 7-6.
In the final doubles matchup, Northwood’s Regan Fales and Savannah Matuszewski defeated Kennedy Dumas and Maria Hernandez 6-0.
The Bulldogs got a strong performance in the singles competition to help secure the victory.
Daavettila defeated Platsiota in two sets. The first set was 6-3, and the second set was 6-2.
Waller fell to Fulop in three sets. Fulop won sets one and three 6-3 and 6-3. Waller took set two to force a third set 6-2.
Danilovic defeated Ana Hernandez in three sets. Ana Hernandez took the first set 6-3. Danilovic then took the last two sets 6-2 and 6-4, respectively.
Maria Hernandez defeated Northwood University’s Sophie-Malin Von Dusterlho in two sets (6-1 and 6-3).
Dumas defeated Matuszewski in two sets (6-2 and 7-5).
Laverdiere defeated Northwood’s Fales in two sets (6-4 and 6-3).
“It’s easy to point out some of the ones that finished the match,” Doren said. “Kennedy and Amelia [were] the last ones, so they were pretty big. But I would say we were all led off by Sophie, who had a really dominant win in singles.”
The Bulldogs lost to the University of Indianapolis on Sunday, Feb. 5, to mark their first loss of the year.
The Bulldog’s lone point in the match came from a doubles competition, as Ana Hernandez and Maria Hernandez defeated the University of Indianapolis’ Anna Novikova and Sofia Sharonova 6-2. Then, Daavettila and Laverdiere defeated the University of Indianapolis’ Maissane Aik and Maria Fiacan 7-5 to earn the Bulldog point.
The Bulldogs struggled in singles competition, as the University of Indianapolis swept the Bulldogs in four straight matches.
The University of Indianapolis’ Novikova defeated Daavettila in three sets (6-2, 6-1 and 6-2).
Aik defeated Waller in two sets (6-4 and 6-2).
The University of Indianapolis’ Margarita Andreiuk defeated Ana Hernandez in two sets (6-2 and 6-4). The University of Indianapolis’ Maria Fiacan defeated Maria Hernandez in two sets (6-4 and 6-2).
“Yeah, I mean, [I’m] really worried about a letdown match after such a big win yesterday,” Doren said. “But we were playing against the top five team in the country, and to win the doubles, which we’ve never won a doubles point against this specific team.”
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Feb. 10, as they take on Hillsdale College on the road. Then, they will travel back home to take on the University of Findlay on Feb. 12 at 11 a.m.