Team hopes to beat foes, sickness

Forget improvement. After last week’s experience, the IU women’s tennis team is just hoping it can get healthy again. \nThe team spent its spring break in Las Vegas, but unfortunately for the Hoosiers, what happened in Vegas didn’t stay there, and the team is still hampered by the lingering effects of the trip. \nThe reasons for the Nevada visit were three scheduled exhibitions against Syracuse and a fundraiser. IU coach Lin Loring said the team was able to get in three good days of tennis, but then it seemed all things went awry. A stomach virus devastated the entire roster, and the effects were severe enough to prompt a couple of trips to the emergency room. \nSenior Laura McGaffigan said she was still healthy late into last week, but then her hopes of evading the virus were quickly dismissed. \n“It was horrible,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that sick.”\nNo members of the team’s coaching staff caught the bug, but they didn’t exactly get off easy. This past week they’ve been faced with the task of preparing an entire team of recently bedridden tennis players for their first Big Ten road matches of the season. \nThe No. 38 Hoosiers (11-3, 1-0) may be favored when they play at No. 55 Iowa (5-6, 1-0) on Friday and at No. 51 Minnesota (6-4, 0-1) on Sunday, but returning home Sunday night with a still perfect conference record will be a challenge. \nSophomore Sigrid Fischer is still overcoming the virus, and she has missed practices this week as a result.\nNearly everyone else on the team has completely recovered, but considering the circumstances, Loring said he isn’t necessarily looking for improvement this weekend. \n“I’ll be really happy if we can get back to where we were before spring break,” he said. \nJunior Brianna Williams said this weekend’s three-day road trip will be especially difficult for the team as the players continue to make a full recovery from their Vegas virus. \n“They have the advantage, not having to travel,” she said. “At least we have the transition day.” \nIf there is one positive note for the Hoosiers, it’s that McGaffigan is a native of nearby Davenport, Iowa, and she is expecting some IU supporters in the crowd for Friday’s match. \n“My family is going to come,” she said. “It will be nice to have a little fan support at an away match.”