Senior sent out in perfect fashion

IU's women's tennis team sent senior Dominika Walterova out in perfect fashion.\nLiterally everything went the way of the Hoosiers, both on and off the court. It started with a pair of victories: Friday's crucial 4-3 win against No. 41 Michigan and Sunday morning's 6-1 win over Michigan State. Most importantly though, they secured the second seed for next weekend's Big Ten tournament.\nBut ironically, they couldn't have done it without the help of their biggest rival.\nPrior to Friday, the future didn't look nearly as good for IU. The team could have easily fallen anywhere between the two and five spot. The No. 40 Hoosiers (14-10, 8-2 Big Ten) were in the middle of a battle for the conference's second-place position with three other teams -- the Wolverines (then 5-3 Big Ten), Iowa (then 6-2) and Illinois (then 5-3).\nThe Hawkeyes and Hoosiers sat neck-and-neck, but Iowa held the tie-breaker between the two teams, making them the likely favorite for the second spot.\nIU secured third with its elimination of the Wolverines, despite some violent clawing. The match lasted nearly five hours and saw a change of venues due to the weather. Doubles were played at the IU Varsity Tennis Courts and singles were played at the IU Varsity Tennis Center.\nIowa followed suit and booted out the Illini the following day.\nGoing into Sunday morning's match against the Spartans, the battle was reduced to a dual between the Hawkeyes and the Hoosiers. After giving up only one point to the Spartans off freshman Brianna Williams' retiring, the waiting game was the only game left for the Hoosiers to play.\nAnd the Hoosiers' waiting game proved to be just as good as their tennis game, as No. 52 Purdue upset No. 49 Iowa 5-2, making IU the victors of the coveted No. 2 seed.\n"Today was just a nice way to finish, especially for our senior, Dominika," said IU coach Lin Loring. "(The Michigan match) could have swung us anywhere from the two seed to the five seed. That was just a brilliant, pressure-filled match."\nAfter garnering the doubles point Friday, the Hoosiers saw three matches go into three sets, and junior Sarah Batty, now ranked No. 120 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, played a big role.\nBatty and Walterova took out Michigan's No. 26-ranked tandem at the No. 1 doubles position.\n"We were both pretty hyped up for the match," said Batty, who posted no losses this weekend. "We've had a lot of close matches -- like with the number one team in the country and the number four team in the country."\nThe duo finished 9-1 in Big Ten play.\nBut all attention eventually shifted to Walterova.\nSunday was the last collegiate match Walterova will ever play in Bloomington.\nA former assistant coach journeyed to Zlin, Czech Republic, to recruit her about four years ago. She then came to IU halfway through her freshman year and, with the exception of time spent out from last year's shoulder injury, she has had her name in the starting lineup ever since.\nShe totaled 57 doubles wins and 39 singles wins in her career.\n"It was a really good opportunity and good experience to learn the language and meet new people," Walterova said. "You just come to a new country and it's just like something totally different."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Andy Romey at aromey@indiana.edu.