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The Maryland women’s tennis team continued their tough season by getting blown out in road matches against South Florida and Northwestern and at home against Illinois, dropping the Terps’ record to a dismal 3-12.
The trip to the University of South Florida made for a rare midseason nonconference match and the Terps played as if they barely showed up as they lost 7-0. Maryland was off for six days before resuming conference play against No. 24 Northwestern, but suffered another 7-0 loss. The Terps were shut out again Sunday at home by No. 36 Illinois, losing 4-0.
Saturday, March 23: USF 7, Maryland 0
Doubles play was a disaster in this one as each of the Terps duos were dominated. Saya Usui and Anastasiia Gevel lost 6-0 on Court 3 while Arnelle Sullivan and Amber Policare lost 6-1 on Court 2. Millie Stretton and Eva Alexandrova were down 5-1 when their match was called.
Policare kicked off singles play by losing 6-2, 6-1. Alexandrova was next to fall as she lost 6-3, 6-1. Singles play continued to snowball for Maryland as Gevel fell 6-2, 6-2, to clinch another loss for the Terps.
With the match decided, all the Terps had left was to play for pride. That didn’t go well, either. Zoe Kulkarni lost 6-3, 6-2, Sullivan fell in a three-set tiebreaker and Stretton capped things off with a 6-2, 7-5 loss.
Friday: No. 24 Northwestern 7, Maryland 0
Maryland lost the doubles point once again, as Sullivan and Policare lost 6-1 while Stretton and Alexandrova lost 6-2.
Singles portion, unfortunately, went the same exact way as it did against South Florida, as the Terps failed to register a victory. Stretton lost 6-2, 6-2 to put the Terps in a 0-2 hole. From there, Gevel fell 6-2, 6-2 and Sullivan lost 6-3, 6-3 to secure another loss for Maryland. Kulkarni was the next to lose, although the loss was due to her retirement in the middle of the second set. Alexandrova lost 7-6, 6-1, and Policare went on to lose 6-1, 7-6, giving Northwestern a 7-0 win.
Sunday: No. 36 Illinois 4, Maryland 0
Returning home to the JTCC didn’t reverse the Terps’ fortunes at all, as they were shut out once again.
The match didn’t get off to a great start for Maryland, as Sullivan and Gevel fell 6-2 in their doubles match while Usui and Yemelyanenka lost 6-1.
With the Terps down 1-0, they needed to capture four of the six singles matches to shock Illinois but, as usual, were unable to do so. It was a quick loss for the Terps, as Stretton lost 6-2, 6-1, Gevel lost 6-0, 6-2, and Sullivan lost 6-1, 6-3 before the rest of the matches were called.
The Terps have now lost five matches in a row, and it will be tough to snap the losing streak next week with road matches on Friday at Nebraska and Sunday at Iowa.