IU faces rematch with Vanderbilt

Survive and advance.

Athletic teams have often adopted this mantra come tournament time, and the No. 41 IU women’s tennis team is no exception.

The Hoosiers’ season, which IU Coach Lin Loring described as a “roller coaster,” culminates in a trip to Clemson, S.C. to face No. 19 Vanderbilt (15-11, 7-6) Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Indiana earned an at-large bid on April 30 when the NCAA Championship bracket was announced.

“The team is very excited,” Loring said. “No one on this team has ever been to Clemson. We have never gone more than two years in a row without a trip to the NCAAs, so this was really important for our program to go this year.”

The Hoosiers’ last NCAA Tournament appearance was in 2010 when then-No. 28 Vanderbilt defeated No. 41 IU 4-0 in the first round.

If Indiana (18-9, 6-5) can overcome its déjà vu and prevent history from repeating itself, the women will face the winner of the matchup between No. 13 Clemson and Eastern
Kentucky.

The winner of the four-team region will advance to the Round of 16 in Champaign, Ill.

“We know Vanderbilt was almost a No. 1 seed, so we drew one of the best No. 2 seeds in the field,” Loring said. “That being said, we beat Duke earlier this season when they were No. 2 and later Michigan, who was ranked as high as No. 6. We are probably the three seed that no one wanted in their regional.”

IU has reason to be confident entering the NCAA Tournament. Facing tough competition away from Bloomington is not a foreign concept for the Hoosiers. Indiana defeated No. 2 Duke on neutral courts in Las Vegas and No. 10 Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., in March. IU faced the four best teams in the Big Ten — Michigan, Nebraska, Northwestern and Purdue — on the road this season.

The Hoosiers’ calling card this spring has been battling in every match despite running into some bad luck in terms of scheduling and injuries. Five of the team’s nine losses were 4-3 defeats against teams that are currently ranked in the top 50 of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.

The Hoosiers and Commodores have faced six common opponents this season. Vanderbilt defeated Illinois and Northwestern but suffered losses to Nebraska and Michigan. In conference play, Vandy lost to Tennessee and bested Kentucky. Michigan is the only one of those six teams that IU defeated.

The Commodores finished seventh in the SEC and were bounced out of the conference tournament by No. 3 Florida in the quarterfinals. 2013 marks the 19th consecutive year Vanderbilt has earned an NCAA Tournament bid.

Only one current Commodore, graduate student Megan Gornet, was on the Vanderbilt team that defeated IU in 2010, but she did not play in the first-round match. Similarly to IU, Vandy relies on a lot of youth. The Commodores’ top six singles players are comprised of three freshmen, two sophomores and one junior.

Loring said that while “the whole (Vanderbilt) team has turned over” since 2010, there is a familiar face at the helm of the Commodores.

Geoff Macdonald is in his 19th season as the head coach of the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team. Macdonald previously coached at Louisiana State and Duke, and he has earned a conference Coach of the Year honor at each school. Loring said he’s known Macdonald for years and has faced Macdonald at Vanderbilt, Duke and LSU.

“His teams are always well-prepared and well-coached,” Loring said. “We know that they’re going to be a good match for us.”

Vanderbilt junior Lauren Mira is ranked No. 63 in singles and freshman Georgina Sellyn is No. 95, according to the ITA. Mira and Courtney Colton are the No. 12 doubles tandem in the country.

IU sophomore Katie Klyczek and senior Leslie Hureau are ranked No. 114 and No. 115 in singles competition. Hureau and sophomore Carolyn Chupa are No. 55 in doubles.

Hureau and fellow senior Jithmie Jayawickrema are the only IU players with tournament experience. Hureau was a freshman when Vanderbilt defeated Indiana in 2010, and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Women’s Tennis Singles Championship in 2011.

Jayawickrema played in last year’s NCAA Championship when she attended Stephen F. Austin. Tulsa defeated Stephen F. Austin 4-0 in the first round.

Loring is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament. Friday’s match marks his 28th appearance in the 64-team field tournament as the Hoosiers’ head coach.

Loring knows what to expect in the regional rounds of the NCAA Tournament. He said the atmosphere will be slightly different with the tournament banners at the courts and that the Hoosiers may not even see the other two teams in their region because they play at a different time on Friday.

“At this point, we’ve played so many dual matches that I’m going to tell them that it’s just another dual match against a really good team,” Loring said.