Leslie Hureau, Hoosiers shoot for victories against nonconference opponents

This Sunday, the Hoosiers look to improve upon their 9-3 record. The team will square off against Marquette at 11 a.m. and then take on Cleveland State to cap off the doubleheader at 4 p.m.

These matches will conclude the nonconference portion of the schedule as the team begins Big Ten play against Purdue next weekend.

The Golden Eagles are 7-2 this season with two losses against Wisconsin and Western Michigan.

The Hoosiers defeated Western Michigan earlier this year 7-0.

Marquette played Ball State earlier this year, winning 5-2. The Hoosiers also defeated the Cardinals this season 7-0.

IU is familiar with some of the Golden Eagle players, as they have played in two tournaments with Marquette this year, the IU Invitational and the Kansas Tournament.

Seven Hoosiers who played in last weekend’s matches, and they went a combined 10-4 for all singles and doubles matches against Marquette earlier this season.

Later in the day, the Hoosiers will square off against Cleveland State, starting at 4 p.m.
The Vikings are 6-4 so far this season. Cleveland State and IU share three opponents so far this year.

Against Ball State, DePaul and Xavier, the Vikings were outscored 12-9 in team points. The Hoosiers outscored those opponents by 18-3 in team points.

As the Hoosiers look to put double digits in the win column for the year, they will continue to rely on junior Leslie Hureau, who has taken the role of the No. 1 player in singles for most of the season.

Coming off a year in which she was the first player from IU named an All-American in 19 years, Hureau said she is used to playing against stiff competition.

“I think I’ve played pretty well,” Hureau said. “I’ve won the matches I had to win against teams that weren’t that great, but now I really need to play better against the really good teams.”

With a team comprised of five freshmen, her role had to change from the previous year. Hureau and senior Evgeniya Vertesheva are the only upperclassmen on the young team.

“I feel like I need to bring a lot of energy because the freshmen are not used to college tennis,” Hureau said. “So you’re not used to cheering for everyone and being loud. I need to play well and show a good example.”

Hureau’s partner for the team portion of the schedule has been freshman Alecia Kauss. Their chemistry off the court contributes to their success when the lights are on.

“She’s just really calm,” Hureau said of Kauss. “Even when I do something really stupid, she’s just always saying, ‘Oh it’s all right, it’s all right,’ even though I know it was really stupid.

“We’re getting used to playing together because we didn’t really play together in the fall. So now we’ve already played like ten matches, and I think we’re improving.”