Sophomores lead No. 50 IU women

Two years ago, IU Coach Lin Loring and Associate Head Coach Ramiro Azcui compiled the 10th-best recruiting class in the nation, according to Tennis Recruiting Network. Indiana’s five-member freshman class of 2011 included four five-star recruits.

The new Hoosiers were Carolyn Chupa from Bradenton, Fla., Alecia Kauss from Overland Park, Kan., Katie Klyczek from Munster, Ind., Shannon Murdy from Atlanta and Ariel Beckerman from Santa Barbara, Calif.

Though Beckerman is no longer on the team, Loring said the four others remain and have made an impact on the Hoosiers in the 2012-13 season.

Choosing IU

Loring said the Kelley School of Business was a major factor in the women’s decisions to become Hoosiers. He said with the exception of Klyczek, they all wanted to be business students.

“The Kelley School of Business was a huge draw,” he said. “Scott Dobos, a professor in the business school, had lunch with all of them, and he was three-for-three on the business school girls.”

Loring said all of the women had ties to the Midwest or the Big Ten.

“Katie turned down some scholarships to other schools and just ended up, I think, wanting to stay in-state,” he said. “I think she picked us more for being close to home and in-state, but the other girls all had Big Ten or Midwest ties of some sort.”

He said Chupa is originally from Michigan, and  her sister was in school at Wisconsin at the time of her college decision. Loring said he thinks Kauss’ mom went to Iowa and her dad went to Nebraska. He said Murdy had relatives in Ohio.

“When I visited, I could tell that the team really had a bond with each other that a lot of other teams can’t say, so I was really impressed by that,” Murdy said.

Kauss said she chose to play tennis at IU because of the coaches and the team which were major factors in her decision.

“Carolyn and I were on the same official visit, and I loved the girls,” she said. “I always had a lot of respect for the coaches, so they were a big part of it.”

Freshman Year

In the 2011-12 campaign, the five freshmen made an immediate impact on the team. Collectively, they posted a 77-54 singles record and a 72-53 overall doubles record for the 16-11 Hoosiers.

They achieved those records without making major adjustments in their tennis games in their first year of college, Loring said.

“The freshman year is always so challenging for them, because the coach is new, the food is new, everything is so new,” Loring said. “We didn’t do a lot of changing in their games, because that’s kind of their security blanket their freshman year. The only thing that is familiar with them is their tennis game.”

Klyczek solidified herself as the team’s No. 3 singles player and played in that position for two-thirds of Indiana’s dual matches. Chupa split time between the No. 3 and No. 4 spots. Kauss commanded the No. 5 singles position. Murdy was the team’s second option for both the fifth and sixth singles

positions.

Klyczek and Kauss were two of the team’s top three players in terms of singles victories last season.

Evgeniya Vertesheva graduated last year, and junior Kayla Fujimoto, who was 22-9 in singles and 29-13 overall in doubles last season, suffered a season-ending injury, which meant that the now-sophomores had significant players to replace.

Sophomore Year

Loring said he thinks all of the players have improved tremendously this year.

“We’ve already made a lot more changes and worked on