'Business-like' approach helps Hoosiers to victory

It was all business for the IU women's tennis team Saturday when the Hoosiers improved to a flawless 6-0 record after defeating both the DePaul Blue Demons and the Butler Bulldogs at home. \nIU wasn't sure what it would see from the erratic Blue Demons, and no time had been spent toward scouting the underdog Butler squad. But coach Lin Loring's team demonstrated its professional approach to the game. Winning 5-2, the Hoosiers were prepared for the challenge DePaul presented, and Butler's element of surprise wasn't enough to prevent a 7-0 IU win.\nEven before the two schools met Saturday, Loring was familiar with the potential of DePaul's team. He had an idea what type of performance to expect. The Hoosiers convincingly defeated the Blue Demons a year ago 6-1. Loring said the team's highly talented roster didn't play up to its abilities then, and considering the group's struggles with injuries, he wasn't sure that Saturday wouldn't be a repeat of last year's meeting. Though they lost by three points, Loring said he thought DePaul played fairly well Saturday, and if one doubles match -- which the Hoosiers' tandem of senior Cecile Perton and sophomore Sigrid Fishcer won in a tiebreaker -- had gone the other way, it would have changed the complexion of the entire match. The tiebreaker win gave IU the doubles point and forced DePaul to take four out of six singles matches in order to win.\n"(After losing the doubles point), the pressure is on them, not us," Perton said.\nSaturday marked the second week in a row the Hoosiers won the doubles point against a talented team to shift the entire match their way. Loring said that the doubles point against DePaul gave the Hoosiers a great advantage in momentum just as it did against Kansas a week earlier.\n"I think the doubles point was huge," he said. "On paper, it was just like Kansas. We knew it was going to be a close match."\nIU battled the Blue Demons for nearly 4 1/2 hours before taking on Butler after a short break. Butler had energy on its side. The team didn't even arrive at the Varsity Tennis Center until about 40 minutes before the match's scheduled 3 p.m. start. Loring said it didn't matter what sort of advantages the Bulldogs had because there was no chance of his team allowing an upset.\n"We expect to beat Butler," he said. "It's a match that's totally in our control. If we play well, we win. If they play well and we play well, we still win." \nThe prediction proved to be a testament either of Loring's soothsaying abilities or his 29-plus years of coaching experience. The Hoosiers pummeled Butler in a 7-0 sweep. Sophomore Alba Berdala said the win was strictly business.\n"It's not our first dual match of the season," Berdala said, "so we're prepared for it. We just want to go on the court and do what we have to do"