IU had a strong start to the match against Maryland by winning the doubles point.
It beat Maryland in each of its doubles games. The Hoosiers scored five more points in their singles games, allowing them to top the Terrapins 6-1.
“The momentum really shifted after the doubles,” IU Coach Lin Loring said. “The tie breaker was 13-12, and it really doesn’t get any closer than that. That really turned the momentum in our favor because we had been a little stronger in singles, and it helped our girls gain a lot more confidence going into the singles.”
The win against Rutgers was no different for IU. The Hoosiers won all of their doubles games, allowing them to score the ?doubles point.
The Hoosiers finished the match by winning five of their six singles matches to win the match by a score of 6-1.
“I thought we played pretty solid, especially in the doubles,” Loring said. “We got off to a much quicker start in doubles. We’ve been starting a little slow and we talked about that, so we got off to a really good start and I think that just carried with us into the singles.”
These two matches were important for the Hoosiers to get a bye to the Big Ten Tournament and presented challenges for IU.
“We knew we were probably favored in both matches and that sometimes can cause a let down and not allow you to play your best tennis,” Loring said. “I was pleased that we kept our level of play pretty high.”
Senior Carolyn Chupa said one of the biggest challenges she faced was the change from playing indoors to playing ?outdoors.
“The biggest challenge was probably transitioning outdoors since last weekend was our first weekend outdoors,” Chupa said. “Last weekend was the first time we’ve played outside all season so it definitely wasn’t an easy transition.”
The Hoosiers are ?anticipating their upcoming matches next weekend on the road at Wisconsin and at home against ?Minnesota.
“We’re playing Wisconsin away, but we’ve never played on their outdoor courts so we’ll see how that goes, but we’ve usually done pretty well against them for the past three years” Chupa said. “Minnesota, we’ve always had an advantage at home, and whenever we go play there it’s always a lot harder, so I think we have a pretty good chance next weekend.”
