Team to play last doubleheader

Climbing the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's top 75 rankings, IU coach Lin Loring's No. 24 women's tennis team returns to Bloomington to play their last doubleheader and final pre-conference home matches of the season. The Hoosiers (6-3) will play host to DePaul and Ball State University Saturday at the IU Tennis Center.\nPlaying unranked teams for the first time since early January, the Hoosiers return from a blowout win at Marquette and a hard fought 5-2 loss at Notre Dame as they look to take care of business at home, this time as the favorite to win.\nIU, which moved up two spots in the ITA rankings, gets their first breather in a schedule highlighted by 16 ranked opponents. But Loring said the team must focus and play as if two highly ranked teams were to come to town.\nBall State is first up for IU Saturday morning. The Cardinals (6-3, 2-0 MAC) arrive in Bloomington as they play their sixth of seven road matches. IU's neighbors to the south are 0-1 against the Big Ten this season, having never beaten the Hoosiers in 14 matches.\nSenior Martina Grimm said although its competition this weekend is not as highly ranked, the squad is focused on this weekend as if it were playing the top teams in the country.\n"They are easier teams, ranking-wise," Grimm said. "But you can never underestimate them. We don't expect these teams to be like Tennessee or Kentucky, but you still have to be ready to go in and play our best."\nGrimm and doubles teammate sophomore Sarah Batty moved up in the ITA doubles rankings to No. 44. The Hoosier duo is 3-2 this spring, with big victories over Duke's Jennifer Zika and Kristen Cargill, 9-8 and the only doubles win against Notre Dame, 8-6.\nSitting right behind them in the rankings is the tandom of fellow seniors Linda Tran and Karie Schlukebir. The No. 45 doubles team in the nation boasts a 5-4 record this spring, with a key win in an upset over then-No. 10 Tennessee. Last weekend, the two dominated Marquette's No. 1 doubles team before falling to the No. 42 ranked Notre Dame duo.\nThe Hoosiers will continue to focus on doubles play this weekend, as gaining the momentum early Saturday will help IU protect its courts.\nA bigger challenge comes in the afternoon, when the Hoosiers square off against DePaul -- a team with more depth than Ball State. IU will need to show they can play at every position, singles and doubles, to come away with a weekend sweep.\n"DePaul is a really solid, balanced team," Loring said. "They are really going to push us, and it is going to be a good match. They're one of those teams that is talented enough, if we don't play well they could beat us."\nPlaying well as the spring progresses, junior Dora Vastag looks to improve on her 6-3 record. IU's number one singles player, Vastag, moved up her ITA ranking to No. 30 after knocking off No. 27 Tammy Encina of Tennessee and Kentucky's No. 19 ranked player.\nThis weekend, Vastag takes on DePaul's only nationally ranked player. The No. 98 Gergana Ganeva faces off with IU's junior sensation looking for an upset to add to her 10-6 resume.\n"This weekend is important for us," Tran said of her two opponents. "Not because we're playing a ranked team but because this is about getting some momentum and confidence for the Big Ten season."\n The Hoosiers get started at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the IU Tennis Center with their match against DePaul beginning at 2:30 p.m.\n-- Contact staff writer Jeff Fuldauer at jfuldaue@indiana.edu.