Women's tennis all about competition as they go South

The IU women’s tennis team is on the road again this weekend, journeying to Nashville, Tenn., to compete in the June Stewart Invitational. This is the third of four tournaments in which the women’s team will be competing this fall.  
 
The team will match up against Kentucky, William & Mary, Middle Tennessee State, Tennessee-Martin and Vanderbilt from Friday through Saturday.

Each Hoosier will participate in at least three singles matches and three doubles matches, IU coach Lin Loring said. However, they will not know who they match up against until they arrive there.

Although the women have an opportunity to pick up individual wins this weekend, Loring said that is not what the competition is about.

“We just want to see improvement,” Loring said. “We watch the kids play and are looking for movement, shot selection and competition. They can lose but play great, and that is what we look for.”

The team saw Vanderbilt at the Hoosier Classic two weeks ago, which proved to be fierce competition for the Hoosiers. The Commodores have been to the 16th round the last 10 years, and it seems they are the kinds of challengers for which IU is searching.
“We want the best competition we can play in the fall,” Loring said.

The Hoosiers stress that tournaments in the fall focus on gaining experience toward the spring season and do not actually go toward the team’s record. It is a chance for the players to work on individual issues and adjust to their partners’ playing styles.

“We have been working really hard,” said sophomore Charlotte Martin. “I personally am looking to go out there and compete. I am looking to do things better than I have been doing.”

The team has been working on movement during practice in the fall weather of Bloomington, though they are going south this weekend to slightly warmer weather.

In the Georgia Invitational in September, the heat played a factor in the way the team played. This time, however, the Hoosiers are not concerned.

“We aren’t worried about the weather; we are worried about the competition,” senior Stephanie Heller said. “We will be able to adapt, but we will be seeing a lot of good teams there.”

The women said they are excited to play outside competition rather than each other this weekend and are also looking forward to seeing how their hard work has paid off.
“I’m working on playing my best,” Heller said. “If I play my best, the results will come.”