Women's tennis starts 2014 at home

The women’s tennis team is gearing up for the start of its season.

The IU Winter Invitational will begin Saturday and continue through Monday.

The Hoosiers will play the University of Oregon, Harvard University, Marquette University and Abilene Christian University.

IU will look to recover from the break and prepare for the season, which starts next week.

“It’s kind of an effort to play yourself back into shape so that when we start the dual match season, we’re ready,” IU Coach Lin Loring said.

This season, the Hoosiers have added three new faces.

Freshmen Paula Gutierrez, Mary Beth King and Kim Schmider will play this weekend and show their improvements from the beginning of the school year.

The players will not be the only individuals using this event to their advantage.
Loring wants to finalize the positions before dual matches next week.

The spots are not final, as Loring can alter the standings throughout the year based on player performance and doubles team chemistry.

“We’re going to be using this tournament, and also next week’s practices, to set the lineup before next Saturday when we play Xavier and Cincinnati,” Loring said. “The main thing we’re going to be looking for is consistency. I think the first time out, this weekend, if someone tries to play too big, they’ll make too many errors. It’s going to be a matter of who keeps the ball in the court.”

During the 2013 season, the Hoosiers made a NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years.

This year’s team looks to build off that success.

The squad is currently ranked No. 41 in the nation by the ITA National Rankings, and three players are ranked nationally.


Junior Katie Klyczek, senior Sophie Garre and sophomore Gabrielle Rubenstein are ranked No. 73, No. 86 and No. 118, respectively.

The team has high hopes for the season and will be using this tournament as a launch-off point.

“Last year, we were not ranked as high,” junior Alecia Kauss said. “I think it shows our improvement and how we can play with anyone. It’s also a little motivation for us to try and break that top 30.”