Hoosiers compete in Indiana Doubles invite

Great things come in twos. That was the motto this weekend for the IU women’s tennis team while competing in the Indiana Doubles Invitational, going 16-4 overall.\nThe doubles pair of junior Sigrid Fischer and sophomore Lindsey Stuckey were undefeated, going 5-0 as they defeated pairs from each of the competing schools: Bowling Green (Ohio), Ball State, Indiana State and Louisville. \nAlthough they were the only undefeated duo, junior Alba Berdala and freshman Katya Zapadalova combined to go 4-1 over the weekend. The pair of senior team captain Brianna Williams and freshman Maria Guerreiro also went 4-1. \nThe trio of junior Stephanie Heller, freshmen Charlotte Martin and Myriam Sopel rotated partners in five doubles matches to go a combined 3-2.\nHeller and Sopel went 2-0, Heller and Martin were 1-0, and Martin and Sopel were 0-2, the only losing combination of \nthe weekend.\nIU coach Lin Loring said the tournament gave the team a chance to practice and strengthen their doubles combinations before this Sunday’s competition. \n“This was exactly what we wanted,” Loring said. “We wanted to get a lot of doubles in before we started our season, and it was perfect because all the girls played a lot of doubles. We experimented with a lot of combinations, but it was perfect. We didn’t get anybody injured; it was just worked out exactly the way we wanted it to.”\nBerdala said the weekends’ wins gave the team more confidence in their abilities.\n“Overall we won most of our doubles,” Berdala said. “We did pretty well. (Winning) just gives us more motivation. It gives us confidence that we can do good.”\nLoring’s main focus this weekend remained tinkering with doubles combinations before the next match. Loring said this weekend’s play got them closer to finding the team’s perfect duos. \n“Some of the girls that are new to our doubles are starting to learn what they need to do,” Loring said. “Western Michigan, next weekend, always has very, very good doubles so this will help us get ready for that match.”\nFischer also agreed that this weekend reinforced their confidence in their pairings.\n“I think there’s always room to experiment with it, but I also think that the ones we had this weekend are really good as well,” Fischer said.\nAlthough the team’s four freshmen are still adjusting to the spring collegiate set-up, Loring said their development has been right on schedule.\n“I think the four freshmen have all improved in their doubles,” Loring said. “They still have a ways to go, but they’re all improving. The more doubles they play, the better they’re going to get. They all definitely played better doubles this weekend then they did in the fall. I’m pleased with the results.” \nThe tournament began Saturday morning and concluded Sunday. The Hoosiers will face Western Michigan at 10 a.m. Sunday and Miami (Ohio) at 3 p.m.