Season ends against rival Purdue

The weekend dual match has become routine for the women's tennis team. This weekend the Hoosiers (9-14, 1-7 Big Ten) are facing No. 22 Illinois (13-6, 6-2) on Saturday and Purdue (11-9, 5-3) on Sunday. The Hoosiers end their season with their third straight weekend of competition.\nThe Illini are tied with Ohio State and Northwestern for second place in the Big Ten, trailing Minnesota by one game. Rankings aside, the Hoosiers are dominating the overall series against Illinois with a record of 28-4 in head-to-head competition. Although the team is not favored in either match, they are determined to play hard this weekend.\n"Both teams are tough, and it's going to be a challenge," freshman Sarah Batty said. "However if we can keep the injuries under control, we will have a good chance to win."\nThe Hoosiers are already looking past Illinois and preparing for their match against intense rival Purdue, who is on a five-match win streak. \n"We are hoping to be full strength against Purdue on Sunday," Batty said. "That is the match we are concentrating on."\nJunior Linda Tran agrees that both matches will be competitive but stresses the importance of the match on Sunday.\n"Both matches will be tough for us, especially against Illinois," Tran said. "They have beaten some good teams in the Big Ten that we have struggled against. Purdue is a good team as well, but they have been up and down this season so we are going to have to go out there and fight and give everything we have and hopefully come out with a win on their court. It is Purdue after all."\nThe Hoosiers, who have been plagued with injuries all season, are playing their final two matches of the season with senior Karie Schlukebir. Schlukebir will not compete in the Big Ten Tournament next week due to cancer treatment. The team will sorely miss Schlukebir, who competes at the top spot in doubles competition.\n"With Karie not playing in the Big Ten Tournament, it will be very hard for us," junior Martina Grimm said. "Besides, the injuries have been a big factor for us this year as well. I believe that if we can manage to pull everything together and compete as hard as we can, we will be successful."\nThe Hoosiers, who return all of their players next season, are working hard to finish the season strong but can't help but look ahead to next season.\n"I want the team to make strides to improve for next season," Schlukebir said. "We will be returning all of our players along with bringing more girls in, so next year should be successful."\nThe team lost two heartbreaking matches last weekend against Minnesota and Iowa but continue to stress that personal improvement is what is important.\n"As a team we are always looking forward for improvement by each individual," Tran said. "We are the underdogs once again this weekend, so we just want to go out and stay competitive in our matches."\nThe Hoosiers travel to Illinois on Saturday for a 10 a.m. match followed by their match 10 a.m. Sunday at Purdue.