IU dominates at tournament

The adidas IU Winter Invitational was the IU women’s tennis team’s first competition in two months and the team’s final chance to fine-tune its game before heading into dual matches.

The No. 49 Hoosiers hosted No. 52 Missouri, Marquette and Bowling Green over the weekend in a tournament that was organized into seven singles flights and one doubles flight.

“It was really important to get a lot of matches in because the last time we played was the first week of November, so it was important to play before we start dual matches,” IU Coach Lin Loring said.

On Friday, Indiana was 7-1 in singles matches and picked up two wins in doubles matches.

Senior Leslie Hureau defeated Bowling Green’s No. 87 Emily Reuland 6-4, 6-2 in the top flight. Sophomore Alecia Kauss, junior Sophie Garre, sophomore Katie Klyczek and junior Gabrielle Rubenstein also won their matches in straight sets.

Sophomore Carolyn Chupa and senior Jithmie Jayawickrema won their matches in tie-breakers against Bowling Green’s Katie Brozovich and Marquette’s Vanessa Foltiner, respectively.

In doubles play, Jayawickrema and Rubenstein teamed up to beat Bowling Green’s Reuland/Nikki Chiricosta 8-4. Kauss and sophomore Shannon Murdy battled with the Bowling Green pairing of Maddy Eccleston/Katie Grubb before winning a tie-breaker 9-8 (5).

The team continued its success on Saturday by going 6-1 in singles. In doubles, the Hoosiers were 6-2, and three different Indiana pairings won two matches.

Hureau and Garre defeated Marquette’s Aleeza Kanner/Ana Pimienta and Bowling Green’s Reuland/Eccleston by 8-3 margins. Chupa and Rubenstein topped Missouri’s Rachel Stuhlman/Maria Christensen 8-6 and Cierra Gaytan-Leach/Elisha Gabb, the No. 26 doubles team in the country, 8-3. Kauss and Kylczek bested Gaytan-Leach/Gabb 9-7 and Marquette’s Rocio Diaz/Erin Gebes 8-6.

Indiana finished the tournament with a perfect doubles record of 6-0 on Sunday. The Kauss/Garre, Chupa/Klyczek and Rubenstein/Jayawickrema duos each won two matches.

Kauss and Garre capped off Indiana’s undefeated day with a win against Gaytan-Leach and Gabb. The pair of Hoosiers took a 6-3 lead before their opponents stormed back to tie the match. With their teammates cheering them on from an adjacent court, Kauss and Garre won the tie-breaker 9-8 (6).

Not only did the Hoosiers win most of their doubles matches but they did so with many different doubles pairings. In fact, Loring used eight different doubles combinations during the weekend.

“What was good for us is we had a couple kids out at different times with injuries, and we won a lot of the doubles,” Loring said. “I was pleased that everyone was able to adjust and play with new partners and still play some good doubles.”

Overall, Indiana was 13-2 in its singles matches and 14-3 in doubles play.

While IU had success in the weekend’s tournament, Loring said the women’s tennis team still has room for improvement as it heads into dual matches.

“We have to lob better in doubles, we have to serve better in doubles, and those are the two big things that we need to do better in doubles,” Loring said. “I think our singles is coming along pretty well.”

The Hoosiers will face Miami (Ohio) and Cincinnati Jan. 19, when the team travels to Cincinnati for its first dual matches of the season.