No. 50 IU yet to allow a point in 2012-13 season

The No. 50 IU women’s tennis team continued its perfect start to the spring season with three more 7-0 victories this weekend.

IU has won all five of its dual matches this season by that margin.

Despite the women’s early season success, IU Coach Lin Loring said the team has not let the perfect record get to their heads.

“All the girls know the things we’re working on and we don’t really talk about winning and losing or scores,” Loring said. “There are just certain things we want to do better so we keep on working on those. It really wouldn’t matter what the score of those matches were, we still have certain things that we want to keep working on.”

On Saturday morning, the Hoosiers won their third consecutive dual match without losing a singles or doubles match when they defeated Marquette 7-0. All seven singles players won their matches in consecutive sets.

At the No. 1 position, senior Leslie Hureau defeated Ana Pimienta 6-3, 6-0. Sophomore Alecia Kauss won the No. 2 singles match against Rocio Diaz 7-6 (2), 6-3.

In doubles, Hureau and junior Sophie Garre defeated Diaz and Ali Dawson 8-3. Sophomores Carolyn Chupa and Katie Klyczek topped Dawson and Erin Gebes 8-5. Sophomore Shannon Murdy and Kauss won their match against Aleeza Kanner/Aina Hernandez Soler 8-4.

IU swept Western Michigan and last week’s MAC Player of the Week, Nini Sujashvili, on Sunday morning.

In the No. 1 singles match, Hureau defeated Sujaskvili 6-1, 6-2. Klyczek followed suit at No. 2 by beating Kathleen Hawkins by the same margin in straight sets.

IU won all three doubles matches against Western Michigan by 8-1 scores.

Loring said the team’s doubles play was one of the most complete performances the team has had in a long time.

“This weekend, specifically today, I was really pleased with our doubles against Western Michigan,” he said. “We served well. We returned well. We played good defense and it was about as complete a team match of doubles that we’ve had in quite a while. When the girls realized that they were playing a match that they were probably going to win, they didn’t let up.”

IU finished its busy weekend by dominating Butler on Sunday afternoon.

Junior Gabrielle Rubenstein played for the Bulldogs during her first two years of college before joining the Hoosiers last August. She won her singles match against Clare Cornelius, 6-0, 6-0.

“It’s always a little bit weird but I want to represent IU well and win,” she said. “It’s competition, and you can’t take friendships into account in competition.”

Butler was IU’s third opponent in two days and the Hoosiers finished the weekend with the team’s fifth consecutive 7-0 victory and third straight dual without losing a set.

“We do a good job of stretching afterwards and making sure to eat right and hydrate,” Rubenstein said. “That’s what you really need to recover between that many matches.”

IU swept the six singles matches and did not lose a single game in half of them. Senior Jithmie Jayawickrema and Garre joined Rubenstein in defeating their opponents 6-0, 6-0. Kauss won the No. 2 match 6-0, 6-2. Chupa and Hureau capped off IU’s perfect singles performance with 6-1, 6-3 victories.

Rubenstein credited IU’s success to the women’s abilities to stick to their individual game plans.

“Every match we just try to go into focusing on specific goals for our own matches and what we want to work on and improve on,” she said. “You want to stay focused on your game plan, and it’s not necessarily about the score. It’s always about trying to improve every single match.”

The Hoosiers have a lighter schedule next weekend when they face Marshall at 10 a.m. Sunday in Huntington, W.Va.

Loring said the Hoosiers will not play this many weekend dual matches as the season progresses.

“As we get further in the season, we don’t do that because we want our legs under us, and we’ll be getting tired,” he said. “It was good for today, but we’d never do that on the road because we’re a little fresher at home. Sometimes things come out in your game when you’re tired so it was good for us.”