IU wraps up regular season with 2 Big Ten victories

The women's tennis team finished its regular season with two Big Ten victories this weekend, dismantling Michigan 6-1 and Michigan State 5-2.\nThe Hoosiers' (16-8, 7-3 Big Ten) triumphs were career wins 602 and 603 for head coach Lin Loring, who was already the winningest women's coach in Division I history.\nIn the opener against Michigan Saturday, IU rode the success of its No. 2 and 3 doubles teams to earn the doubles point and jump out to a quick 1-0 lead. The No. 2 doubles team of freshman Linda Tran and junior Karie Schlukebir won a tight 8-6 decision. Junior Amanda Field and senior Jennifer Hsia continued their doubles dominance by winning 8-2.\nAfter Michigan took the No. 1 singles matchup, IU marched through the rest of the singles with little resistance, highlighted by a complete shutout at the No. 3 battle with Tran defeating Szandra Fuzesi 6-0, 6-0. In the only match to reach three sets, sophomore J.J. Levin rebounded from a second set lapse to overcome Jen Vaughn 6-4, 1-6, 7-5.\n"This was a win that we had to have. We really got the job done in singles play today," Loring said. "Hopefully, this puts us in position to be the third seed in the conference tournament."\nSunday, IU faced a struggling Michigan State squad which had not won a Big Ten match all season. \nThe Hoosiers defeated the Spartans in the doubles, winning all three contests and stretching their doubles point winning streak to 11 consecutive matches. Field and Hsia improved their already stellar record to 20-4 on the season at the No. 3 spot. The tandem has not lost since March 4 against Kentucky. Senior Kelly Blanch and Levin at the No. 1 spot, and Schlukebir and Tran at the No. 2. Both duos won 8-5.\nDespite the three doubles victories, Tran said the Hoosiers could've played better.\n"I don't think everybody played great, but it was good enough," Tran said. "They kind of took us by surprise a little bit."\nThe singles proved to be more of a challenge for the Hoosiers. Four of the six matches went three sets, with IU falling in each of the four first sets. With things looking glum for IU, it received two much-needed victories from the No. 5 and 6 spots. Hsia defeated Josie Schmude 6-1, 6-1 in the first match. Freshman Martina Grimm followed Hsia with a 6-1, 6-2 win against Christee Chargot. It was at that time that the other matches started unfolding into IU's favor. Field and Levin both rebounded from first-set deficits and prevailed at the No. 2 and 3 spots, respectively. Like their teammates, Blanch and Schlukebir also came out of a first-set hole, but both lost in a third-set tie-break.\nDespite Michigan State's poor record, Loring said he was impressed with the Spartans' play.\n"Michigan State played well," Loring said. "They have never beaten us before, so they always come out giving it their very best shot." \nSchlukebir agreed.\n"You always expect teams to play their best against you," Schlukebir said. "They really had nothing to lose."\nWith this weekend marking the end of the regular season, Loring said he was pleased with the results, but stressed that there is still work to be done.\n"I think we had a good year," Loring said. "We all know that anybody can beat anybody in this conference on any given day, so we just have to be ready to play"