Hoosiers sweep Big Ten rivals

The No. 40 IU women’s tennis team earned its second and third consecutive Big Ten victories last weekend during its road trip to the Great Lakes State.

The Hoosiers notched their eighth 7-0 victory of the season in East Lansing, Mich., against Michigan State on Saturday and followed it up with a 5-2 win against No. 10 Michigan on Sunday.

The Hoosiers won the doubles point against Michigan State by winning the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches. Sophomore Carolyn Chupa and senior Leslie Hureau defeated Marina Bohrer/Catherine Parenteau 8-1 in the No. 1 match.

Sophomores Alecia Kauss and Shannon Murdy topped Nicole Herzog/Michaela Silesova 9-8 in the No. 2 position.

IU swept the singles matches and won five of them in consecutive sets. No. 111 Hureau bested Bohrer 6-3, 7-5 in the No. 1 match. No. 112 Katie Klyczek, a sophomore who won the Big Ten Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week earlier in March, defeated Parenteau 6-4, 6-1.

“We still had trouble closing out both singles and doubles matches that we were leading,” IU Coach Lin Loring said. “On the positive side, we got to play an outdoor match, and we got a win in a match we had to have.”

After IU’s match at Michigan State, the Hoosiers traveled to Ann Arbor, Mich., for Sunday’s dual match against the No. 10 Wolverines.

The Wolverines had won eight consecutive matches entering Sunday, including victories against No. 14 Texa sand No. 2 Duke.

Michigan’s No. 2 doubles tandem of Emina Bektas/Brook Bolender defeated Hureau/Chupa 8-1 in the No. 1 match.

However, IU fought back to win the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches to earn the doubles point. Garre/Klyczek topped Mimi Nguyen/Kristen Dodge 8-2 in the No. 3 spot and Kauss/Murdy gave IU a 1-0 lead when they bested No. 49 Ronit Yurovsky/Sarah Lee 8-4 in the No. 2 match.

The Wolverines tied the match when No. 20 Bektas defeated No. 111 Hureau 6-1, 6-4 and then took a 2-1 lead when Amy Zhu bested senior Jithmie Jayawickrema 6-3, 6-2.

IU finished the match strongly by winning the final four singles matches, three of which were won in three sets and two of which were against ranked opponents. In the No. 2 match, No. 112 Klyczek bested No. 39 Yurovsky 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. Chupa topped No. 76 Lee 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (4) in the No. 3 spot.

IU will continue Big Ten play next weekend with a pair of road matches against No. 69 Iowa and No. 12 Nebraska.