IU stays unbeaten in Big Ten after weekend trip

The IU women’s tennis team’s weekend matches could be characterized with one word: determination.\nStill recovering from their spring break stomach virus, the Hoosiers were dealt a new set of problems for their road matches against No. 55 Iowa on Friday and at No. 51 Minnesota on Sunday. But the team’s perseverance outweighed its hardships, and the Hoosiers (13-3, 3-0) still returned home with an unscathed conference record. \nSophomore Sigrid Fischer missed practices late last week due to the lingering effects of the team’s Las Vegas trip. She traveled with the team and won 8-3 with senior Cecile Perton in doubles and easily won her singles match 6-2, 6-1. IU won that match against Iowa, 5-2, but Sunday was drastically different for both Fischer and the Hoosiers.\n“(Sigrid) was too sick to play,” IU coach Lin Loring said. “So that really hurt us and weakened the team. But we still found a way to win, so it was a great, great, great match for us.”\nIU defeated Minnesota 4-3 on Sunday, but Loring said that had Fischer been in the lineup, the Hoosiers would have had a lopsided victory. Instead, each player shifted up a spot in the singles rotation, which paired them against tougher opponents. \nSophomore Stephanie Heller competed in singles for the first time this season in Fischer’s absence and won the match 6-1, 6-4. \nFreshman Lindsey Stuckey also played a key role for IU, winning a three-set duel against a more experienced opponent 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.\n“I’m just really pleased with the girls,” Loring said. “A lot of people just stepped up.”\nSophomore Alba Berdala said Heller and Stuckey’s efforts demonstrated the depth of the team and boosted the Hoosiers’ confidence.\n“That makes us realize that if one player’s out, then we can still do really well,” she said.\nLineup changes weren’t the only issue for IU. Flight delays forced the team to drive rental cars to Iowa. Then the team’s flight to Minnesota was also delayed, and the team spent five hours getting acquainted with the Iowa airport.\nThe whole situation – what Loring described as a “comedy of errors” – took a toll on the Hoosiers.\nBut their record doesn’t indicate that.\n“We’re very fortunate, under the circumstances, to come out with two wins,” Loring said. “We had a lot of excuses for losing this weekend ... but instead we found reasons to win.”