IU hosts No. 9 Duke

Off to their best start since the spring of 2002, Lin Loring's IU Hoosiers (4-1) face their toughest test of the year as they play host to the No. 10 Duke Blue Devils Sunday.\nDuke is the third of 15 ranked opponents the Hoosiers will face this season. After knocking off then-No. 10 Tennessee and playing a tough road match against No. 18 Arizona State, IU will have to bear down to protect their home courts from one of the most talented teams in the country. \nLoring said his team will truly be put to the test this weekend, as Duke is the best team they have played so far.\n"They're much better than Tennessee," he said. "They've had a couple injuries early in the season and dropped a match here and there. But they're probably a top five or six team in the country."\nThis non-conference match-up will be the perfect opportunity for the Hoosiers to gauge how they are playing and progressing. After traveling across the country to take on Arizona State, Duke is the Hoosiers first home match since their upset over Tennessee three weeks ago. With Big Ten play less than a month away, IU will get the chance to test their arsenal against one of the top teams in the country.\nAfter a full week of recovery and practice, the team is excited and ready for their biggest challenge to date. In the latest edition of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, five IU players were among those recognized as the Hoosiers jumped in the polls to No. 36. Seniors Martina Grimm, Karie Schlukebir and Linda Tran, junior Dora Vastag and sophomore Sarah Batty all began the spring season ranked as some of the best in the nation and hope to continue their success into Sunday's match.\nVastag, ranked No. 48 nationally in singles competition and the Hoosiers' No. 1 singles player, hits the court this weekend after a straight set win over Arizona State's No. 50 ranked player. The junior standout defeated Joslynn Burkett, 6-4, 6-4 in a 5-2 loss to the Sun Devils.\nWinning the only other point for the Hoosiers against ASU, Batty enters the weekend looking to knock off a different kind of devil. Hoping to add another win to her unbeaten singles record this spring, Batty looks to carry over the momentum from her 6-2, 6-2 win in Tempe, Ariz.\nOne area of concern for the Hoosiers will be the three matches deciding the doubles point. Against the Sun Devils, IU was swept for the doubles point and played from behind.\nOne half of the No. 24-ranked doubles tandem, Tran, said playing outdoors took some getting used to and may have led to some of the Hoosiers' woes.\n"Everyone is excited about this weekend," Tran said. "Against ASU, we only had two days to prepare to play outside. If they had to come and play here, (the match) would have been much different.\nWe've had a week off to work on some things, and I think we're ready."\nThe action starts at 10 a.m. Sunday at the IU Tennis Center.\n-- Contact staff writer Jeff Fuldauer at jfuldaue@indiana.edu.