Team looks to rebound

The IU women's tennis team seeks to rebound after a disappointing loss to Iowa last Sunday and will get a chance to accomplish the task by returning to its home court.\nThe weekend begins Saturday when IU faces league-leader Northwestern, who is undefeated in the Big Ten. Sunday, the Hoosiers face Illinois, who has a Big Ten record of 2-0. \n"The matches this weekend will give us a good idea of where we are and what we need to work on before the Big Ten Tournament at the end of April," Coach Lin Loring said. \nThe No.13 Wildcats have a record of 8- 4. Northwestern, historically a strong team, enters this match fresh after two shutouts over Michigan and Michigan State.\nIllinois has also defeated those same teams. \nThe Hoosiers anticipate the Wildcats' veteran team to present IU with the biggest challenge of the weekend. In the 2001 spring season, Northwestern overpowered IU decisively 7-0. \nThe Hoosiers suffered a close 2-5 loss last spring season to Illinois but hope to come out of this weekend victorious. \n"I think that our team camaraderie and energy will help us get through the matches this weekend," freshman Inga Radel said. \nIllinois's No. 35 team is relatively young, carrying three juniors and no seniors. After battling some of the fiercest competition in the country, the Illini have a record of 7-6. \nFortunately for the Hoosiers, injured players are starting to become less of an issue. Although not at 100 percent, Loring anticipates that the team will return to full strength after spring break. \nThe Hoosiers look to improve in doubles play this weekend. Despite their loss to Iowa, they have already begun to rebuild team confidence and are excited to compete again. \n"Coming off of last weekend's match, it has made the team realize that any team can beat any team on a given day," sophomore Linda Tran said. "We just need to be ready to play every match because we are one of the teams in our conference that everyone wants to beat."\nBoth matches begin at 10 a.m. and take place at the Indiana Tennis Center.