Hoosier underdogs triumph against Purdue

Although the IU women's tennis team's previous record against Purdue under Hoosiers coach Lin Loring was 41-1, the Hoosiers were the underdog to the Boilermakers on Saturday. But even with a lower Big Ten and national ranking, IU beat Purdue 5-2. The victory contributed one point to the Titan Series between IU and Purdue. \n"We knew going into the match that every point was up for grabs," junior Karie Schlukebir said, "As with any other sport, the IU/Purdue rivalry is one that goes without saying. Of course, beating Purdue is always very rewarding, especially because they were ahead of us in the Big 10 standings before yesterday." \nThe Hoosiers started off the match held in Raleigh, N.C. by winning two out of three doubles matches to capture the doubles point. The No. 1 team of Schlukebir and sophomore Linda Tran won their match 8-3. This improves their overall record to 12-6.\nA change was made to the lineup as freshman Inga Radel and freshman Dominika Walterova paired for only the second time this season. Their match in the No. 2 spot was tied at six all before the women eventually defeated their opponents 8-6. This was the women's second consecutive victory. \n"Purdue has had a couple of big wins this season and in those matches they have won the doubles point," Loring said, "Winning the doubles point was crucial for us and really helped get the momentum going." \nWith the loss of the doubles point, Purdue was under pressure to win at least four of the six singles matches. As singles play began, IU quickly captured the first four sets in each singles match. This meant Purdue needed to win at least two of those matches in the third set, but this never happened. \nAt No. 1, senior Amanda Field won her first set against Purdue's Melissa Iqbal in a tiebreaker. Field was down 4-5 as her opponent had set point against her. But Field battled back and defeated Iqbal 7-6(1), 6-2. \nIn a tight match, Schlukebir defeated the Boilermaker's Lara Burgarello in a close match, 7-6 (3), 6-4. Radel continued her eight-match win streak by beating Purdue's Melissa Woods 6-2, 6-1. Radel has won 16 of her last 17 matches. \n"This win was huge for us because they were ranked ahead of nationally and in the Big Ten, plus we won a point for the Titan Series," Loring said, "I can think of only a couple of other times when Purdue was favored over us to win. This makes this victory one of the more meaningful ones"