Lone senior looks to lead Hoosiers

Senior Amanda Field is looking to lead the women's tennis team this year after posting a 25-13 (7-3 in Big Ten) record last year. The lone senior has the confidence of team coach Lin Loring, the winningest head coach in collegiate women's tennis history.\n"Our team captain is Amanda," Loring said. "She's definitely one of our team leaders."\nEarlier this year, Field competed in the Riviera Women's All-American Championships at the campus of UCLA. She lost her first two matches in qualifying.\n"She played well out there," Loring said. "She lost twice, but it was a really good experience for her."\nField's goals for this season include being All-Big Ten, as well helping IU to a team Big Ten Championship.\nShe also has the confidence of her teammates.\n"She's a very steady player," Martina Grimm, a sophomore and teammate, said. "She doesn't have a lot of ups and downs. She always plays at the same level."\nField said she wants that level of play to always be her best.\n"I want to be able to play up to my ability," Field said. "I think that if I do that, a lot of good things will happen." \nShe said she tries to maintain a good balance of athletics, academics and social life. She is a marketing major and a member of Alpha Omicron Pi. Last year, she was awarded Academic All-Big Ten honors.\nGrimm said Field's success also comes from her attitude.\n"She has a great personality," Grimm said. "She cares about the team. You can count on her."\nField said she is enjoying her time at IU.\n"I love this campus and the business school," Field said. "It's a really good atmosphere that I'm excited to be a part of."\nIt's an atmosphere that Field knows well. She said her hometown of Gainesville, Fla., has many similarities to Bloomington.\n"It's a pretty small town with a big university," Field said. "That's what I always thought college was like, the college dominates the town."\nShe said she misses her family and the weather from home the most. She's also had to make a major adjustment since moving here. \n"Basketball up here is the same way that football is down there," Field said. "There they wouldn't even know they had a basketball team unless they make the finals. But I still live and breath Gator football."\nShe says she will sit down with her family to make a decision on what to do after college.