No. 27 Hoosiers to cap off tough non conference season

A win in today's 3 p.m. match against No. 20 Texas Christian University would let the No. 27 Hoosiers do two things.\nIt would send them walking out of the IU Varsity Tennis Center with their first win out of six matches against top-20 ranked opponents this spring.\nIt also would be a good way to close out one of the hardest non conference schedules in the country.\n"It's an aloof situation for us, really," said IU coach Lin Loring. "Either way, win or lose, it's going to get us ready for Penn State."\nThe Hoosiers, now 6-5 this spring, are going up against a slightly improved TCU team from the one that easily handled them last year, Loring said.\nTCU (7-1) currently boasts four, possibly five, wins against ranked opponents -- then-No. 7 Clemson, then-No. 49 SMU, then-No. 28 Texas A&M, then-No. 55 Tulsa and with a defeat Wednesday evening, No. 47 Purdue. The Hoosiers lost a 4-3 nail-biter earlier this spring to the only opponent that the teams share -- Texas A&M.\nThe Horned Bullfrogs currently have two singles players and one doubles duo in the national rankings: No. 17 Story Tweedie-Yates and No. 52 Helena Besovic, with Tweedie-Yates and teammate Ana Cetnik teaming up to form the No. 52 tandem.\nIU is coming off a near flawless weekend against No. 44 Western Michigan and Marquette, with the Western Michigan victory being the second over a ranked opponent this spring.\nSenior Dora Vastag, ranked No. 99 nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, was recently honored with the Big Ten Women's Player of the Week award. The Okemos, Mich., native is currently 14-10, with five of her losses coming from players in the top 100 national rankings.\nJunior Sarah Batty and freshman Brianna Williams have both been bastions in singles play since the fall, with Batty winning eight of her last 11 matches and Williams taking 11 of her last 16 matches.\n"I just think it makes me more excited," Williams said about her recent play. "It gives me more confidence."\nAt the start of the spring, coach Loring was uncertain about his team's ability to perform in doubles. Now at the end of the non conference stretch, he says doubles play is still a work in progress, but it has come along way for them.\nIn singles play this spring, Batty and sophomore Laura McGaffigan have a team best of eight wins.\n"I think we're all pretty confident, and we're all pretty fired up for them," McGaffigan said. "Our coaches did a good job of scheduling a tough non conference schedule to get us ready (for conference play)."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Andy Romey at aromey@indiana.edu.