Loring earns 700th win as head coach

Thirty years. Sixteen Big Ten Championships. One national title team.\nOn Sunday afternoon, IU coach Lin Loring added another number to his long list of achievements: 700 wins. He’s the only coach in the history of women’s tennis to accomplish the feat.\nThe Hoosiers’ 6-1 win over Western Michigan gave the coach his 699th victory. Just a few hours later, a 6-1 victory over Miami of Ohio secured Loring’s spot in women’s tennis history. \nLoring remained humble after the matches concluded. When asked about the win, he was unaware of its significance.\n“I didn’t even know,” Loring said. “What (milestone) is it? This one? I had no idea.”\nUnlike Loring, senior team captain Brianna Williams was aware of her coach’s milestone win. \n“I think it’s pretty awesome,” Williams said. “Coach Loring has been here so long, and he’s had such a tradition with tennis here. I think he’s just such a great coach, and he’s really motivated his teams to do such a great job. I was also here when he had his 300th Big Ten win, and it’s just really nice to be a part of something like that.”\nJunior Sigrid Fischer was also happy to be a part of her coach’s hallmark victory.\n“It’s amazing,” Fischer said. “It’s just nice to see that he’s winning so many matches. I feel like I’m a part of his wins. It’s nice to be a part of (the 700th win), and it’s an honor to be one of his players and an honor to be coached by him.”\nWilliams attributed various reasons to his success.\n“I think a big part of (his success) is that he really knows how to work with us, how to teach us tennis,” Williams said. “It’s not just how to hit the ball as hard as you can. It’s strategy, and I think he does a good job of teaching us that.”\nOn the other hand, Loring had a simpler explanation for his success. He said his long stay at IU has been the main reason for his high number of wins.\n“Well the 700th is just a matter of how many years I’ve been at it,” he said. “This is a pretty high burnout profession. A lot of people basically don’t stay in it long enough to get 700, especially in our sport where you can go out into the private sector and double your salary. That has a lot to do with the longevity of it, and we’ve really had just great kids and a great support staff, great assistant coaches.”\nLoring has also enjoyed being part of the Hoosier community. He is the only coach who has been at IU for more than 20 years. As he coaches in his 31st season, his enthusiasm for the job has not dwindled.\n“I’ve always enjoyed going to work every morning,” Loring said. “Part of it is just the location of it. I’ve liked living in Bloomington, and it’s a nice college town. Now that I’m married, Bloomington’s a great place to raise kids.”\nLoring said he didn’t think of the importance of the matches until Ramiro Azcui, the associate head coach, notified him.\n“I didn’t even know until Ramiro came over and told me we were having dinner here,” Loring said during a celebratory dinner. “I was going, ‘Why are we having dinner here?’ I had no idea. I absolutely don’t pay any attention to those.”