IU completes final fall tournament

Competing in the Western Michigan Duals, their last tournament of the fall, the Hoosiers took advantage of the chance to improve their game before the spring season starts in January. The team ended the short fall season optimistic about the spring.\nJunior Alba Berdala advanced to the finals of her flight Sunday, but lost to Kerstin Pahl of Western Michigan. Pahl also defeated freshman Charlotte Martin before playing Berdala. \nSophomore Lindsey Stuckeyadvanced to her final, but also lost. None of IU’s doubles teams advanced to the finals.\n“The competition for doubles was very good. Most of our teams were 2-2 ... It’s just too hard to judge these tournaments by wins and losses,” IU coach Lin Loring said.\nNow, the Hoosiers have high hopes for the spring.\n“(The fall tournaments) served the purpose we wanted (them) to,” Loring said. “We learned a lot about our players, their strengths and weaknesses. Hopefully they’ve learned what they need to work on.”\nThe younger players also got a taste of tournament play to help prepare them for the spring.\n“I think the four freshmen definitely did really well,” senior Brianna Williams said. “It’s a huge transition coming from different countries. We feel closer as a team now.” \nBerdala agreed. \n“I think we have improved a lot,” Berdala said. “The freshmen know how everything works, and we have more team spirit now.”\nThe NCAA limits the amount of time coaches can spend with their players during the months of November and December. The players will have to monitor their own practices and individual workouts until January. \n“It’s definitely hard not to able to see your coach, but I’ll try to encourage everyone to practice so they don’t lose their level of play and so they can maintain their level of tennis and competitiveness,” said Williams, who is captain of the team. \nBerdala said the upperclassmen are used to dealing with the transition between seasons and will help the freshmen adjust. Both Williams and Berdala are optimistic about what the spring season will bring and agree that hard work is the key to success.\n“My main goal is to win the Big Ten Tournament,” Williams said. “I think we have a really good team this year, and hopefully we can just compete as hard as we can and win.”