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TERRE HAUTE, IND. – The Indiana State women’s tennis team fought for every point but could not come out on top, losing to the 75th ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers 5-2 in their regular season finale Saturday on the courts at the Duane Klueh Tennis Complex.

The only two Sycamore points came in singles as sophomore Sarah Meghoufel, a day after losing her first ever Missouri Valley Conference match, took out her frustrations on Minnesota’s Karina Chiarelli to post a 6-1, 6-0 victory in the No. 1 singles match. It was her ninth win in her last 10 matches as she concludes the regular season with a 12-7 record.

The other Indiana State victory came at No. 2 singles as freshman Anna Morgina survived a long battle with Minnesota’s Tijana Koprivica. Morgina won the opening set 6-2 but dropped three of the last four points in the second set in losing 5-7.

The Sycamore freshman was down 8-4 in the super tie-breaker before scoring the final six points to post the win 10-8. Morgina caps the regular season by winning her fifth straight match and her ninth of her last 10 matches in closing out the regular season 16-3.

"The girl changed her strategy against Sarah in the second set but Sarah was able to figure it out and win," Martha Montano, Indiana State assistant tennis coach, said. "The girl Anna played changed her strategy in the second set too but it wasn't until halfway through the tie-breaker that Anna figured it out."

Junior Sofya Lifanova lost her match at No. 3 singles 6-1, 6-2 to Minnesota’s Alessandra Ferrazzi while freshman Elmine Botes was stopped at No. 4 singles by the Gophers Niltooli Wilkins 6-0, 6-0.

Indiana State dropped the doubles point to fall behind 3-0 at the start of singles play. Morgina and Lifanova came through with an 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles over Minnesota’s Alex Seaton and Magdalena Wiecha. It was the seventh straight win for the Sycamore duo who concludes the regular season with a 12-5 record.

Meghoufel and Botes were locked in a tremendous battle with Minnesota’s Chiarelli and Ferazzi and were up 5-3 at one point. The Gophers rallied to tie the match at five and again at six, scoring the final two points to edge the Sycamores 8-6.

Indiana State wraps up the regular season with an 8-11 mark overall and 6-2 record in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Sycamores will have the second seed in next weekend’s State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Team Championship where they are the defending champions.