Weekend ends tough non-conference stretch

IU's women's tennis team is going up against two highly ranked opponents on the road this weekend -- No. 19 Tennessee and No. 7 Kentucky.\nBut this isn't the only reason for the No. 29 Hoosiers to anticipate Sunday evening.\nThe night also will mark the end of a non-conference stretch that saw five of their six last opponents ranked in the top 30 of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's national poll.\nIU will face off against Tennessee (3-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Volunteers' Goodfriend Tennis Center. The team will then travel to Kentucky's Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Complex for the 11:30 a.m. match against the Wildcats (7-3) Sunday.\nIU coach Lin Loring, who received career win No. 650 last weekend, said that he thinks anything is possible, but he simply looks for his team to play competitively.\n"We beat both teams last year when they we re favored above us," Loring said. "They are the same caliber teams that we've been playing all year."\nTennessee is fresh off of a three-match win streak, with its last win being a 5-0 blanking of then-No. 29 Michigan. The Volunteers have one nationally ranked player - No. 60 Sabita Maharaj. In doubles play, Maharaj pairs with teammate Ashley Robards to form the No. 51 ranked duo.\nKentucky will go up against No. 41 Purdue before playing host to the Hoosiers Sunday. The Wildcats, like the Hoosiers, went 1-1 last weekend. Before last weekend UK made it to the finals of the National Indoor Championships, defeating the likes of then-No. 3 Clemson, No. 15 North Carolina and No. 6 Duke.\nKentucky has three players that rest in the national rankings -- seventh ranked Aibika Kalsarieva, No. 30 Sarah Foster and No. 58 Kim Coventry. Kalsarieva and Foster team up to form the sixth ranked duo in doubles, along with No. 11 Conventry and teammate Joelle Schwenk.\nDuring last weekend's 6-1 besting of then No. 30 Wake Forest, senior Dora Vastag defeated her No. 16 ranked opponent. Vastag is ranked No. 90 herself.\nVastag also teamed up with sophomore Cecile Perton in the No. 3 doubles slot to go 3-0 on the weekend.\nFreshman Brianna Williams won all of her three singles matches and is currently 5-2 this spring in singles play.\n"I'm hoping to carry it on to this weekend," Williams said. "I think it gave me more confidence."\nJunior Sarah Batty, who is currently unranked nationally, also defeated a ranked opponent last weekend -- Wake Forest's No. 77 Ashlee Davis.\n"We've all been working on a lot of individual stuff," Batty said. "Everyone's going to try to improve on an individual level so that we can get prepared for our Big Ten games."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Andy Romey at aromey@indiana.edu.