Indiana Invitational ends fall season

The IU women's tennis team will close the fall season this weekend at the IU Tennis Center by playing host to the Indiana Invitational. Three other schools come into town this weekend including in-state rivals Notre Dame and Purdue along with DePaul University for the three-day tournament.\nThe Hoosiers are coming off their latest fall test, the IU Fall Invitational in late October. Over that weekend, the Hoosiers found success by racking up nine singles and five doubles victories. Senior Dominika Walterova and freshman Brianna Williams stood out for IU, claiming fifth-place in the doubles flight.\n"This tournament was basically the bottom half of our line-up playing the other school's entire line-up. That being said, we should have had better results," said IU coach Lin Loring. "When a No. 4 player plays a No. 1 player, it is often more of a mental battle than a physical battle. We lost some matches because I'm not sure we thought we could win them."\nThat same weekend, senior Dora Vastag and sophomore Laura McGaffigan traveled to Minneapolis to compete in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Regional. Vastag advanced to the round of 16 in singles action before falling to Alexis Prousis of Northwestern, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. \nIn doubles competition, Vastag and McGaffigan teamed up to advance to the round of 16 before falling to the tournament's third seed, Hillary Mintz and Meg Racette of Iowa, 8-3.\nAfter a successful fall season thus far, the Hoosiers now look to end the season with success at the Indiana Invitational. This weekend will not only be a test of how far the team has come in this year's campaign, but it will also give the Hoosiers an idea of where they stand against their in-state rivals.\n"Purdue and Notre Dame always have tough tennis programs so we always try to prepare as best as we can for those matches," McGaffigan said. "The coaches scheduled us a lot of tournaments that will make us tough for the spring season."\nPurdue has enjoyed success in its own right this fall. Sophomore Hala Sufi advanced to the quarterfinals of singles action at the Minneapolis ITA Midwest Regional. The Boilermakers finished last season ranked No. 48 in the nation.\nNotre Dame's women's tennis team has consistently been one of the nation's top squads. A Top-25 team last season, the Fighting Irish come to Bloomington hoping to regain last season's form. Sophomore Catrina Thompson advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITA Midwest Regional before falling to Wisconsin senior Katie McGaffigan.\n"This fall season has been great for the team," sophomore Kara Zeder said. "Everyone's been playing really well and I believe everyone's come away from each tournament learning something new about themselves and their game."\n-- Contact staff writer Nick Caponigro at ncaponig@indiana.edu.