After Big Ten Tournament loss, IU a ‘long shot’ to reach NCAAs

No. 7-seed Indiana was unable to advance in the Big Ten tournament after losing  to No. 2-seed Michigan 4-2.

After beating Wisconsin 4-0 the day before to open up the tournament, IU lost its chance to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which would have happened with a Big Ten tournament victory.

IU Coach Lin Loring said he does not think an at-large bid is probable, with his Hoosiers being on the very outskirts of the bubble.

“We’re just a real long shot,” Loring said. “There will be too many conference automatics that are not ranked that are taking up spots. I told the girls, we were just one win away. We were literally a couple of games from getting in.”

The cutoff ranking for getting in the tournament is usually 44, Loring said. The Hoosiers will likely finish the season at around 50, as they are currently ranked 53.
Michigan, ranked No. 15 in the nation, opened the match by defeating the tandem of junior Leslie Hureau and sophomore Sophie Garre 8-2.

The Wolverines secured the doubles point when sophomore Kayla Fujimoto and freshman Katie Klyczek lost a tight one 8-6. Senior Evgeniya Vertesheva and freshman Shannon Murdy were trailing 6-5 when their match was called early.

The Wolverines took the quick 2-0 lead when Vertesheva fell to No. 85 Brooke Bolender 6-1, 6-1 in the first singles match. Bolender avenged her loss to Vertesheva earlier in the season when these two teams met.

Freshman Alecia Kauss won the first point of the day for the Hoosiers when she defeated a Wolverine for the second time this season 6-3, 6-1.

Klyczek then lost 6-4, 6-1 but was followed by Murdy winning 6-3, 6-3.
In a rematch of the battle on April 1, when Hureau won in three sets in a match of No. 1 players, No. 71 Hureau faced off against No. 12 Emina Bektas. The marquee match again went to three sets, but this time Bektas won, ending the Hoosier’s regular
season 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

“I thought we played pretty good,” Loring said. “They are just really tough in doubles.
Again, we gave them all they could handle in the singles. We thought with a break here and there we could win it, but give Michigan credit, they won the close ones.”  

Prior to Hureau’s match with Bektas, it was announced that Hureau had made the First Team All-Big Ten for the third consecutive year. This is the first time a Hoosier has made First Team All-Big Ten for three consecutive seasons in 17 years.

The Hoosiers have to face the possibility that they have played their last match of the season. The announcement about whether Indiana will be invited to play in the postseason will come soon.

The postseason for women’s tennis is similar to basketball’s, in which a 64-team field will compete in a bracket-style tournament. The defending champion is the University of Florida.

Loring said if the team does not get into the tournament, this season will be one in which the Hoosiers were close in a plethora of tough matches but just could not close the deal.

“It’s frustrating because we were just so close,” Loring said. “We only had one loss outside the top 35, and that was Wisconsin, and we obviously avenged that one at the Big Ten quite impressively 4-0. To only have one loss out of the top 35 and not make the tournament is pretty frustrating. Another top-40 win would have put us in. We were one win away.”