Squad looks to get on board in Big Ten play

The IU women’s tennis team will try to break its conference losing streak this weekend against Iowa and Illinois.

The Hoosiers (10-6, 0-3) will visit the Hawkeyes at noon Saturday and the Illini at noon Sunday.

“They usually are pretty good teams,” IU senior Katya Zapadalova said. “I think Iowa is not as strong as they were last year, and the same is with Illinois, but obviously those are two really good teams and every year we have really good matches with them.”

IU coach Lin Loring said aside from the conference favorites — No. 8 Michigan and No. 18 Northwestern — the other nine teams in the Big Ten are all easily capable of beating each other.

The Hawkeyes are 4-9 on the season but are coming off a 5-2 victory against Penn State. Illinois (4-8, 1-1) has been having a down year as well but boasts two nationally-ranked doubles teams, compared to IU’s one: Leslie Hureau and Myriam Sopel at No. 31.

“It adds a lot (of pressure) but I think from now on we just have to take the role of underdog,” Loring said. “I mean, we’ve never started 0-3 before so it’s just a place we’ve never been. I’m not sure how to handle it as a coach, and I think the players are probably not too sure how to handle it.”