The No. 40 Indiana women's tennis team earned its second and third consecutive Big Ten victories over the 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.
"It's kind of indescribable," IU Coach Lin Loring said.
IU improved its overall record to 14-5 and the Hoosiers' 3-2 Big Ten record gives the team sole possession of fifth place in the conference.
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 straight 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 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."
Loring said that Indiana got lucky that the match against Michigan State was outdoors because the Spartans' outdoor courts are slower than their indoor courts.
"It couldn't have worked out better to play Michigan State outdoors," he said. "Not only because the court speed helped us get ready for Michigan but we also got in an outdoor match and at this time of the year, you're never sure if you're going to get in an outdoor match."
Katie Klyczek said that it was challenging at first going from inside to outside. She said that it gave the team a good outdoor practice and that it may have helped an IU team that plays better outdoors.
After Indiana's match at Michigan State, the Hoosiers traveled to Ann Arbor, Mich. for Sunday's dual match against the No. 10 Michigan Wolverines.
The Wolverines had won eight consecutive matches entering Sunday, including victories against No. 14 Texas, No. 2 Duke, No. 16 Notre Dame, and No. 17 Purdue.
IU ended Michigan's win streak by winning the doubles point and four of the six singles matches.
"I'm really proud of the way we competed," IU Coach Loring said. "We just kept running down balls and making them hit one more. We haven't had two top wins in the same year in quite some time."
Michigan's No. 2 doubles tandem of Emina Bektas/Brooke Bolender defeated Hureau/Chupa 8-1 in the No. 1 match. However, Indiana 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 when Amy Zhu bested senior Jithmie Jayawickrema 6-3, 6-2.
IU finished the match strong by winning the final four singles matches, which included three victories in three sets and two defeats of 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.
"It's pretty exciting, especially after all of our 4-3 losses, to finally win and see all of our hard work pay off," Klyczek said.
"What makes it more remarkable is that neither one was at home," IU Coach Loring said. "When we are firing on all cylinders we tough to beat."
Loring said that tiebreakers finally went Indiana's way and that the match against Michigan could not have been closer. He said that everyone will now know that IU's win over No. 2 Duke was not a fluke after the Hoosiers defeated another top 10 opponent.
"We just kept our confidence and believed in ourselves and fought as hard as we could and good things happened," Klyczek said. "It definitely helped with our confidence and made us realize that we really can do it once we work hard."
Indiana will play on the road again next weekend when the team travels to face No. 69 Iowa and No. 12 Nebraska.
