Kauss stands out in Hoosier Classic

This weekend, the IU women’s tennis team was the host of the 2012 adidas Hoosier Classic, which brought Purdue, Notre Dame, Colorado and Kansas State to the IU Tennis Center’s courts.

The three-day tournament was broken down into four singles flights and one doubles flight.

The top singles flight was set up in a round-robin format in which each day every player played one match against another.

The top tier featured two nationally ranked players, IU senior Leslie Hureau (50) and Notre Dame’s Britney Sanders (98).

Sanders and IU sophomore Alecia Kauss were both undefeated in singles play during the weekend, winning all three of their matches in the tournament.

Indiana’s Friday matches produced a collective singles record of 4-4 and a doubles record of 5-2.

In the top flight, Kauss defeated Quinn Gleason of Notre Dame 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (7), and Hureau won against Colorado’s Winde Janssens 6-2, 6-0.

Senior Jithmie Jayawickrema earned her first singles win as a Hoosier when she defeated Mazy Watrous of Colorado 6-4, 6-3. Sophomore Carolyn Chupa rounded out Indiana’s opening day victories by besting Colorado’s Carla Manzi Tenorio 6-2, 6-1.

IU sent two doubles teams, Hureau and junior Sophie Garre, as well as Kauss and sophomore Shannon Murdy, into the round of four in the sixteen-team bracket.     

Hureau and Garre won both of their matches 8-4 against pairs from Colorado and Purdue. It took the Kauss/Murdy duo 16 games to pull out a win against Kansas State.

IU’s pair of Chupa and sophomore Katie Klyczek lost their opening match but recovered to beat Kansas State 8-1.

The Hoosiers improved on Friday’s win totals as the tournament continued, earning six victories in both singles and doubles.

All Hoosiers in the top flight defeated their opponents.

Hureau came from behind to beat Notre Dame’s Quinn Gleason 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (7), Klyczek topped Molly O’Koniewski of Notre Dame 6-4, 7-6 (7) and Alecia Kauss overcame Colorado’s Winde Janssens in a tiebreaker 1-6, 6-3, 1-0 (8).

Garre bested Kansas State’s Ana Gomez Aleman 6-1, 6-3, Murdy defeated Gisella Pere of Purdue 2-6, 6-1, 1-0 (11) and junior Gabrielle Rubenstein won her match 7-6 (2), 6-1 against Miranda Erisman from Kansas State.

The doubles teams of Chupa/Klyczek and Rubenstein/Jayawickrema both ended 2-0 on the day. Hureau/Garre and Kauss/Murdy each defeated their Kansas State opponents Saturday.

The tournament wrapped up Sunday with the final singles matches.    

Kauss defeated O’Koniewski to cap off her perfect singles record to start the season.

Kauss, who had a 21-15 record as a freshman, said the biggest difference from freshman to sophomore year is experience.

“The experience I gained from last season and knowing everyone on the team makes me feel a lot more comfortable,” she said.     

She said her success on the court this weekend has to do with consistency, planning and adjusting as necessary.

IU Coach Lin Loring said he was excited about his team’s season opener tournament.

“Overall, I thought we played really well,” he said. “All of the teams were BCS schools, so we had some really good wins over quality players. We still have a ways to go to get where we want to be, but we’re definitely further along than we were last year at this time.”

The women’s tennis team is next in action Oct. 12 when they go to Athens, Ga., for the three-day Georgia Invitational.