Singles undefeated for season

The Hoosiers couldn't have asked for a better start to the spring season after they swept both Western Michigan University Broncos and Miami (Ohio) Redhawks this past Saturday. IU opened up with a tough 4-3 victory over the Broncos and avenged a fall defeat.\nAll six singles matches were split with the Broncos as the Hoosiers earned three match points. Senior Karie Schlukebir, junior Martina Grimm, and freshman Sarah Batty all won their singles matches.\nThe doubles point was the deciding factor for IU, led by the nationally ranked doubles combination of Schlukebir and junior Linda Tran. The duo defeated Western Michigan's nationally ranked doubles team of Frederika Girsang and Melanie Peters 8-4.\n"We knew it was going to be tough," Tran said. "We hung with them early in the match, but they played really well. We were smart enough to just let this one come to us instead of forcing it."\nAfter the hard-fought match with Western Michigan, the Hoosiers were awarded with a sweep of the Redhawks. IU was so dominant over the Redhawks that no player dropped a set in the whole match. The closest match was in doubles, featuring sophomores Jessica Groth and Dominika Walterova against Maura Travernight and Ilze Meyer of the Redhawks. Groth and Walterova won the match 8-6.\nIU will need to carry the momentum from this tournament until this weekend. The Hoosiers face an excellent Duke team that is currently ranked No. 4 in the nation. Although IU is off to an impressive 2-0 start, coach Lin Loring said things aren't going to get easier.\n"We probably have only two matches the rest of the year where we will be the favored team, so getting these two wins was really big," Loring said. "The Western Michigan match was especially gratifying because we had to win all the close matches for a 4-3 victory. That match could have easily gone the other way"