IU team plays host to duals on Sunday

The No. 51 IU women’s tennis team surrendered its first point of the season to Marshall last weekend but still managed to win the dual match to continue its undefeated streak through the first six matches of 2013.

The Hoosiers had this week off and will face Xavier and Ball State this Sunday. IU faces Xavier at 11 a.m. and Ball State at 4 p.m. at the IU Tennis Center.

Indiana’s doubles pairing of senior Leslie Hureau and junior Sophie Garre are ranked No. 31 in the nation. Neither Xavier nor Ball State has any ranked singles or doubles players.

The Musketeers are 4-1 this season. IU and Xavier’s one common opponent this season is the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks. Indiana won by a margin of 7-0 and Xavier won 4-3. IU Coach Lin Loring said that Xavier’s victory against Miami is normally a good win for the Musketeers and he said that he expects Xavier to be tougher than they were last year.

Indiana has played Xavier three times in the past five years and the Hoosiers won 7-0 in each match.

Ball State this season is 5-1. The Cardinals’ loss was to Michigan State, who Indiana will play on March 30 in East Lansing, Mich. IU plays Ball State on an annual basis and the Hoosiers have won every dual match against the Cardinals in the past decade, allowing no more than two points in a match.

Loring said that Ball State’s women’s tennis program is on its way up, however, with Coach Christine Bader in her third season with the Cardinals.

“She played at Michigan State so I think that team is going to get a little stronger every year,” Loring said.

Loring said that he thinks Ball State is the weaker of Indiana’s two opponents this weekend, which is why the Hoosiers are playing them in their second dual match Sunday.

Even though the Hoosiers suffered their first singles and doubles losses against Marshall, Loring said that the team isn’t changing its approach to its practices.
“We’re going to keep working on the stuff we’ve been working on because we probably should have lost a few points up until now,” he said.

Loring said that Indiana’s greatest quality this season is its consistency, which could be a major reason why the Hoosiers are a 41-1 during their first six dual matches of the spring season. He said that the team’s goal is to bring its A-game every match.

“We really haven’t had any matches where the team as a whole struggled and I’m not just talking about winning or losing. Our level of play has been pretty high,” Loring said. “We really want to continue a consistent level of play and if it’s good enough to win, we win, but if not, we’ll lose but at least we brought our A-game.”