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Men’s Swimming and Diving
Undermanned team bound for NCAAs

A shorthanded IU men’s swimming and diving team heads to College Station, Texas today for the NCAA Championships and the end of its roller-coaster season.

Having peaked midseason and coming off a disappointing fifth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships last month, the No. 8 Hoosiers only qualified three swimmers and two divers for the national championship meet.

“We are trying to score the most amount of points with five people we can,” IU coach Ray Looze said. “Realistically, we would be lucky to score top 30. ... We have to try to be very blue-collar here and squeeze as many points out of these guys as possible.” 

Senior swimmer Matt Lenton and sophomore diver Landon Marzullo are the only Hoosiers at the NCAA Championships with experience in the meet.

“We were really disappointed we didn’t qualify more swimmers,” Lenton said. “The two young (swimmers) we have here are going to be a big part of the team’s future. They have the potential to swim really well, and this will be a huge learning curve for them.”

– By Kevin Loughery

Women’s Tennis
IU to try to take the ‘fight’ out of the Irish

Match play against top-30 opponents is old news to IU. The No. 37 Hoosiers have faced five top-ranked opponents, beating then-No. 23 Wake Forest.

Facing opponents ranked in the top three is also old news; No. 1 Northwestern swept the Hoosiers 7-0 during spring break.

A matchup against No. 3 Notre Dame (16-2, 1-0) should not bring anything unexpected. The Fighting Irish dropped from No. 2 to No. 3 last week.

They beat Vanderbilt and No. 12 Tennessee last weekend, both scores of 5-2.

“We’ve been working a lot on everything with doubles – with cross court consistency, lobs and different strategies, so we really want to get the doubles point,” sophomore Myriam Sopel said. “Coach told us today if we win, that’s great. If not it’s another match to help us get ready for the Big Ten matches.”

The competition will be the Hoosiers’ (9-6, 1-2) last non-conference match of the season.

Depending on the weather, IU might play its first match outdoors at the Varsity Courts or indoors at the Tennis Center.

“It’s a big adjustment because of the weather conditions – the wind, the sun – it’s nothing you can expect,” Sopel said. “It’s the same for both sides – we have to deal with it and adapt as best we can.”

The Fighting Irish come to Bloomington with a solid resume. Senior Kelcy Tefft and freshman Kristy Frilling are ranked No. 33 and No. 49, respectively. Tefft and Frilling make up the No. 3 doubles team.

“Every team that we play is pretty good, whether they’re ranked or not,” Sopel said. “It’s just a girl with two arms and two legs who can hit the ball as well, and we just compete as best we can.”

Success is common throughout the Hoosier lineup. Junior Lindsey Stuckey has won three of her last four matches. Senior captain Sigrid Fischer has also gone 10-5 in her dual matches.

“We keep a great atmosphere between we keep cheering for each other and emphasizing on always being together, doing team bonding,” Sopel said. “We are not only teammates, we are as well friends, so we are close to each other.”

– By Stephanie Kuzydym

Softball
Struggling IU faces ailing Indiana State
 
IU (3-22, 0-2) comes into its 4 p.m. contest against Indiana State (8-12, 2-4) with only one run scored in its past three games.     
  
The Sycamores have faced a similar ailment, after being shut out in back-to-back games. Based on their recent histories, the two figure to play a low-scoring game.

Hoping to see a turnaround at the plate, IU coach Michelle Gardner gave her team a day off in preparation for its in-state showdown.

Junior outfielders Jennifer Glueckert and Kelli Ritchison are the only Hoosiers hitting above .250 for the season, at .288 and .277, respectively.

The lack of hitting shows why pitchers have an ERA of 1.58 against the Hoosiers on the year.

Likely on the mound for the Sycamores will be senior Darcy Wood, who is 5-7 with an ERA of 3.13, including five complete games.

The senior has already tallied 78 innings for the Sycamores and will look to continue the Hoosiers’ offensive deficiencies.

The Hoosier pitching staff will have to shut down Sycamore senior Katie Armour, who has boasted a .422 batting average and is slugging .547.

An in-state rival at home could be what the Hoosiers need to snap their three-game skid heading into Big Ten play.

– By Connor O’Gara