Facing best of the Midwest

The women's tennis team is competing in the Omni Hotels Regional Championships this weekend at the Neilsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wis. The tournament consists of the best players in the Midwest. The singles champion, singles finalist and champion doubles team from each region will earn an automatic berth into the Omni Hotels National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in November.\n"It really gives us a chance to see all the new players on everybody's team and see how much improvement the old players have made," coach Lin Loring said. "It's a good kind of preseason look at what to expect when dual matches start in January."\nDoubles competition is normally a strength for the Hoosiers. Loring hopes this can continue.\n"We've only got one returning doubles team, so we've had to come up with new doubles combinations," Loring said. "We're pleased with what we've come up with so far. It looks like it could be a strength again this year."\nThe returning doubles team of last year consists of junior Karie Schlukebir and sophomore Linda Tran. The duo is 6-0 this fall. Last year they posted an 8-1 conference record on their way to 23 wins overall.\n"We've had a very good first two tournaments," Schlukebir said. "My ultimate goal is to win doubles with Linda (this weekend)."\nOne of the new doubles combos consists of senior Amanda Field and freshman Inga Radel. Field says they can do some damage in Madison.\n"We've made a lot of improvement since the beginning," Field said. "I'm excited to play with her."\nLoring said the success of this year's team relies on how healthy the Hoosiers remain.\n"We've got to try to keep everybody in the lineup, which we haven't been able to do the last three years," Loring said. "At the end of the season, we've had a lot of our key players playing hurt or playing at 75 percent. If we can keep all our starters healthy, we know we'll have a good season. We've had some kids that have missed some play due to injuries, so that's the only setback we've had."\nOne of those injured players is junior J.J. Levin, who is missing this weekend with an injured shoulder. That leaves the Hoosiers with only six players available to play. Loring is worried about his team's nagging injuries.\n"We definitely would like to sign somebody for January, just to give us a little more depth," Loring said.