Women’s tennis continues to win big matches

The sports world goes crazy when ranked teams get beaten by weaker opponents.

Although collegiate women’s tennis isn’t as polarized as men’s basketball, there are still big wins happening on tennis courts around the country.

IU women’s tennis has continued to get major wins against the top teams in the sport.

Halfway into the spring season, the Hoosiers defeated then-No.2 Duke 4-2 in Las Vegas.

At the time, IU was ranked No. 60 in the country, which shows how impressive the victory was.

The Hoosiers have done it again.  

Just more than two weeks later on Sunday, IU beat No. 10 Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Call it Easter Day luck, but two top-10 victories prove that this team has the talent to beat the top competition.

Not only did this squad get their second top-10 win of the season, but they also had to travel on the road to earn it. 

The Hoosiers beat the top-ranked Big Ten team through success in their singles and doubles matches.

In singles play, IU won four of the six matches, which started the squad off on a good note.

Two of the singles matches stood out because two Hoosiers beat top-ranked opponents.

In the second match, No. 112 individual-ranked sophomore Katie Klyczeck defeated No. 39 freshman Ronit Yurovsky two sets to one.

Another big win against Michigan came when IU sophomore Carolyn Chupa beat No. 76 sophomore Sarah Lee two sets to one as well.

These were two crucial matches against individually ranked opponents that the Hoosiers had to win if they were going to beat the Wolverines.

In doubles play, the success continued for the Hoosiers.

They won two of the three matches to pick up crucial victories in the
upset.

Although in the first match IU lost to Michigan’s best doubles team, which ranks No. 2 in the nation, they won the next two doubles matches.

The big game-changer in the doubles side came when sophomores Alecia Krauss and Shannon Murdy upset No. 49-ranked Yurovsky and Lee 8-4.   

This win was one of the main reasons why the Hoosiers ended up clinching the overall victory.

A lot of credit has to be given to head coach Lin Loring and associate head coach Ramiro Azcui for getting this team ready to play against one of the best teams in the country.

These coaches have helped guide their players to two of the best victories in IU tennis history.

In addition, the players that have won the big matches for the Hoosiers are sophomores.

It’s a major accomplishment when your underclassmen are the ones leading the team to upsets and big wins.

This shows that the program will have success in the future because the young talent is already helping the team earn major victories.

IU has asix more Big Ten matches before the Big Ten tournament, but if their success continues, then they will have a shot at making the NCAA tournament.

The Hoosiers’ tournament résumé looks pretty strong so far, but more conference wins will help increase their chances of making the field in May.

­— amsiegal@indiana.edu