Hoosiers travel to Evanston for NCAAs

Led by the Big Ten Coach of the Year, two All-Big Ten athletes and an attitude that says they don’t have anything to lose, the Hoosier women’s tennis team will head to Evanston, Ill., to compete Friday in the NCAA regional tournament.\n“We were, at the beginning of the season, picked at fifth or sixth because we lost our senior, Sarah Batty, who graduated an All-American, and we really didn’t replace her,” head coach Lin Loring said.\nThough Loring thought his team would have to fight for fifth or sixth, the team finished second in the Big Ten behind Northwestern. According to Loring, this was because every member of the team stepped up, and his players agree.\n“I think it’s that we have a solid team,” senior Laura McGaffigan said. “Everyone came through when we needed them to. It was never just one person winning everything.”\nMcGaffigan, one of the squad’s two captains, plays at No. 2 singles and pairs up with sophomore Alba Berdala for doubles play. \n“It’s a lot of fun to play with Alba,” McGaffigan said. “She is very laid-back. We match up well together and play together well.”\nThe pair certainly does play well together. Together this season they had a 7-3 record, including a 2-0 record against ranked opponents.\nOn April 8, the duo dealt the No. 13 pairing of Northwestern’s Georgia Rose and Alexis Prousis their first loss of the season. Then on April 15, Berdala and McGaffigan defeated the No. 45 pairing of Brooke Beier and Mallory Voelker of Purdue.\n“Laura is an amazing doubles partner,” Berdala said. “She is the kind of person who makes it fun to play. She makes me want to play harder.”\nBoth Berdala and McGaffigan were named All-Big Ten athletes this year, while Coach Loring was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the fifth time in his career.\nLoring holds the all-time record for having coached the most wins in women’s tennis, with 696 career victories. He has been at IU for 30 years and led the women’s team to a national championship in 1982. The championship was the first for any women’s sport at IU.\nIn the first round of the tournament, the Hoosiers, ranked 25th nationally, will face the No. 43 Boise State Broncos. The two teams have never faced each other, and Loring said he welcomes the challenge of a new opponent.\n“We don’t know anything about them,” Loring said. “We looked at some (of) the scores, and they are obviously very good. We played a little tougher national schedule, but they have done well – they are like 42 nationally.”\nCoach Loring also said Boise State was a well-rounded team because every player except for their number one has a winning record. This did not seem to bother Loring who, confident in his squad, said it would come down to the matchups at each level of the teams.\nIf IU beats Boise State, they will face the winner of the match between No. 5 Northwestern and No. 63 Western Michigan. IU is looking forward to a possible rematch with Northwestern, whom they lost to earlier this year 4-2.\n“They are ranked really high,” Berdala said, “but we don’t really have anything to lose if we face them.”\nFriday could mark the end of the season for the team, but that doesn’t seem to be on the players’ minds.\n“I just think that if (we) go out and have great performances where everyone does their part we will be fine,” McGaffigan said. “We have had a really great season and are really excited for Friday.”