Freshman recruit pays off

Despite her youth, freshman Linda Tran could hardly be considered inexperienced when it comes to playing tennis. She picked up the game at the age of 9, and since then, nothing has stopped her, not even the transition to the college game. Three weeks ago, playing in her first college tournament, Tran won her singles flight at the Indiana Fall Invitational, and she said she hopes to continue her success.\nTran was one of the top recruits in tennis last season, but IU wasn\'t her first choice. She wanted to go to a southeast school and get out of the Big Ten. Tran, from Grand Rapids, Mich., made trips to Miami, Fla., Florida State, South Carolina, and then finally made a trip to IU at the urging of friend and tennis team member, Karie Schlukebir. After the visit to IU, Tran promptly cancells her remaining trip to Northwestern. \n"I loved it here," Tran said. "The campus is beautiful and Indiana has a good business school. And the girls (on the team) were all real nice."\nCoach Lin Loring said that assistant coach Ramiro Azcui gets credit for landing Tran because he recruited her to the end. \nSchlukebir, who has known Tran since they were 10, said she wanted her to make a visit because once she came, she would love it. \n"Plus, the availability of having her parents come down to watch her, yet still be far enough away couldn\'t happen at a school in the Southeast," Schlukebir said.\nBecause Tran has a tremendous amount of experience playing in juniors, the transition to the college game hasn't been as difficult as it might be for some. Tran and sophomore Jessica Levin won the 1998 Girls 18 indoor doubles championship. \nTran also competed in the Easter Bowl and finished fourth in doubles this year. Players have to be invited to compete in the bowl. Tran has been ranked in the top-10 in the Midwest for her entire junior career. All of this, and she didn't even play high school tennis. But she said that hasn\'t hurt her.\n"I think I am better off," Tran said. I got to travel to national tournaments and play against better competition."\nOne of the major adjustments Tran has had to make is she is now under a new coach. But that was one of the reasons she chose IU. She said she wanted a male coach because she has always been coached by men. \nAnother adjustment is the competition level. Tran said the players are smarter, and all of the top players were the ones that were at Nationals in the junior level.\nThe adjustments have been going well judging by the early-season results. Going into her first tournament, she was confident, but her win two weeks ago wasn\'t expected.\n"I just wanted to do well and come out and make a good showing," she said. "I won my first junior tournament and now my first college tournament."\nLoring said he wasn't surprised. \n"She had good credentials coming out of high school, and we knew she could make an impact on our program," he said.\nTran said she wants to be Big Ten freshman of the year, and Loring said he thinks this is a realistic goal. \n"She is a good athlete that is only limited by her (5-foot-3 stature)," Loring said. "But she competes well and has good foot speed. She works hard in the weight room and on the courts.\n"Most freshmen coming in don't know how to play doubles correctly, but Linda has a clue. She is also solid in singles," he said.\nNow entering this weekend's Hoosier Classic Invitational, does Tran feel any different?\n"I\'ll still be nervous when Thursday night rolls around, but I'll be fine once I set foot on the courts on Friday," she said.