IU freshman beats Florida heat

Following a weekend where the on-court competition was overshadowed by Mother Nature, the IU women’s tennis team felt fortunate to escape the north Florida heat.

The Hoosiers, playing in their second tournament of the fall season, chose the wrong time to head south. Temperatures were in the 90s and IU coach Lin Loring said approximately 16 players were taken off the courts by Emergency Medical Technicians throughout the weekend.

No IU players experienced heat-related illnesses or injuries, but the Hoosiers did have their share of problems.

Junior Maria Guerreiro was complaining of stomach pain during the team’s first night in Florida and she ended up having surgery to remove her appendix. Then, while warming up for her initial singles match, junior Charlotte Martin pulled a ligament in her wrist and was unable to play. Sophomore Megan Matter did get into a doubles match but she quickly became ill and did not finish.

“We had some weird things happen down here,” Loring said. “But we actually fared pretty well for the girls that did play. We were the only team that came from the north so we should have been the ones cramping up. Players were dropping like flies.”

Even with all the distractions, the Hoosiers continued to play well on the tennis court. Freshman Leslie Hureau remained unbeaten on the young season as she advanced to both the “A” Singles and “A” Doubles championships. She was scheduled to play teammate Evgeniya Vertesheva in the singles final but Loring did not feel it was necessary to play that match under the circumstances.

“We didn’t need to play that out but, fortunately, they both won the semis,” he said.

Hureau teamed with junior Myriam Sopel to win a doubles championship against Troy’s Kelly Irving and Lauren Simpson. Hureau and Sopel’s 8-0 victory kept their perfect record intact.

Loring said he has been thrilled with Hureau’s instant impact as a freshman.

“She has played very well. She is a very smart player,” Loring said. “I don’t think Leslie dropped a set. Both she and Evgeniya have been very involved and I have been very pleased with both of them.”