Undefeated no more: IU loses 2 during weekend

After nearly spending the entire first month of the season undefeated, the IU women's tennis team now sits at 8-2 after losses to Duke and North Carolina. \nIn the latest rankings from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, Duke (2-1) held the No. 11 spot, and North Carolina (8-2) sat at No. 7. The Hoosiers came into Saturday's bout with the Blue Devils ranked No. 38, but both Tobacco Road teams proved to be more than the young IU team could handle, as the Hoosiers fell 6-1 to Duke on Saturday before their 7-0 loss to North Carolina on Sunday. \nIU coach Lin Loring said before Saturday's match that his team would need to limit its mistakes to have a chance to win. The Hoosiers responded with what Loring described as the highest level of play the team has exhibited all season. But despite several close matches, IU was unable to achieve an upset against either team. \n"They're just better than we are," he said. "We competed well against them even though the scores didn't show it." \nLoring has repeatedly said he considers doubles to be IU's weakest spot, but against a group of nationally ranked doubles combinations, the Hoosiers remained competitive in both matches. \n"It mainly came down to a couple big points here and there," Loring said. "We didn't close out some sets we had."\nDespite the team's youth, Loring said he didn't really consider the weekend road trip to be a learning experience. The team played at a high level against two elite teams, and for that, he said, the matches were a confidence builder.\n"We just had to see if we could compete at that level, and I think we did that," he said. "I just hope the girls understand that we were just a couple points away from beating those teams"