Hoosiers earn Big Ten victory with weekend win at Michigan State

It wasn’t easy, but the IU women’s tennis team’s winning streak against Michigan State hit the three-decade mark after Sunday’s 5-2 victory in East Lansing, Mich.\nIn the history of the women’s tennis program, the Hoosiers have only lost to Michigan State once – an 8-1 Spartan win in 1977. IU coach Lin Loring, in his 30th season with the team, has yet to be defeated by a Michigan State team. \nComing into the match, it seemed as though the Hoosiers’ recent battles with illnesses would give Michigan State its best shot at breaking IU’s streak of dominance. \nThe Hoosiers played with a full lineup Sunday, but inclement weather pushed the match indoors. Loring said playing indoors was not to his team’s advantage.\n“(The Spartan’s indoor) courts are really fast, and they have a lot girls that hit the ball hard,” he said. “I don’t think it would have been as close if we would have played outdoors.”\nThe Spartans threw their best punch at the Hoosiers, and IU dropped two of three doubles matches to fall behind 1-0, keeping Michigan State’s hopes of an upset alive.\nEven with five singles matches left to be played, Loring said his players would have clinched the victory had they taken the 1-0 lead. “That would have ended the match right there,” he said. “It was kind of a crapshoot after losing the doubles point.”\nThough Loring said his group held the advantage in singles, Michigan State’s Christine Bader defeated sophomore Alba Berdala at the No. 1 position. The Spartans needed only two more singles victories to win the match, but the Hoosiers overcame the pressure.\nSeniors Cecile Perton and Laura McGaffigan both won their matches in two quick sets, but their teammates had a tougher path to victory. \nJunior Brianna Williams and sophomore Sigrid Fischer needed tiebreakers to win their matches. And for the second week in a row, freshman Lindsey Stuckey’s three-set win clinched the match for the Hoosiers.\nLoring gave players time off from practice to rest before Sunday. McGaffigan said the break was significant, considering the number of close matches.\n“I think it helped a lot,” she said. “We caught up on sleep, and everyone was well-rested.”\nWith the win, IU improved to 12-3 on the year and 4-0 in conference. Michigan State (11-6, 1-3) is still winless against Loring, but the Hoosiers’ coach said he wouldn’t take Sunday’s win for granted.\n“We were pretty lucky to get out of here with a win,” Loring said. “There were three really close matches, and we won all of them.”