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Maryland tennis was in Minneapolis this weekend for the Big Ten tournament. The Terps were the No. 9 seed in the field, and they picked up a win over Minnesota on Thursday before falling to top-seeded Northwestern one day later.
Thursday: Maryland 4, Minnesota 2
Even with the tournament in Minneapolis, the Terps were able to take down the No. 8-seeded Gophers. It was Maryland’s first-ever Big Ten tournament victory.
Winning the doubles point has now become a tradition for Maryland and today was no different. The duos of Eva Alexandrova and Millie Stretton, and Katsiaryna Yemelyanenka and Saya Usui each won their matches to propel Maryland to a 1-0 lead.
The singles portion led off with a surprising singles loss by Zoe Kulkarni, who has been dominant this season. Stretton would go on to win her singles match, but not long after, Yemelyanenka would lose her singles match.
With the score tied at two, Maryland needed to win two out of the three ongoing matches to secure a victory. That’s what happened. Ekaterina Tour won her singles match and Alexandrova won her singles match to clinch a historic victory for the Terps.
Friday: Northwestern 4, Maryland 0
The Terps were simply no match for the tournament’s top seed, and their run ended Friday afternoon.
In the doubles portion, the duo of Alexandrova and Stretton shocked the No. 4 doubles duo in the country with a 6-3 win. Nevertheless, the Terps lost the other two doubles matches to lose the doubles point.
The singles portion saw both Usui and Kulkarni get dominated in two-set losses. With Maryland down 3-0, the Terps needed to win the remaining four singles matches to shock Northwestern. Although Alexandrova took the match into a third set, the star freshman would lose 4-6, 6-4, 1-6.
Maryland finished this season 11-13, and their split this weekend adds to a 4-7 record in Big Ten play. With the loss of only one senior, the Terps will look to build off their first conference tournament victory and go even further next season.