Michiganders visit Bloomington to clash with Hoosiers

Visitors from the Great Lake State will invade Bloomington as the Hoosiers kick off a four-game home stand against Michigan State and Michigan this weekend.

IU is coming off two victories against nationally ranked competition this past weekend, and the polls reflected that as the Hoosiers jumped 16 slots to No. 41 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s rankings this week.

After downing the No. 55 player in the nation this past week, junior Leslie Hureau makes her first appearance in the national singles polls, debuting at No. 99.

The team’s record stands at 13-4 (2-1) on the season, and the players look to continue their winning ways when they play unranked Michigan State at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The 8-6 (0-3) Spartans will be looking for their first win in the Big Ten and their first win away from East Lansing, Mich., as Michigan State is 0-2 on the road this season.

Michigan State is one of three teams in the Big Ten without a conference win.

The green and white come limping into the match having lost four of their past five matches.

Michigan State doesn’t boast any nationally ranked singles players or doubles tandems.

Despite Michigan State’s recent losses and a big match against Michigan the next day, the Hoosier women are not looking past them.

“We play Michigan State first on Saturday, so we are going to first focus on this match because that’s going to be a tough match,” Hureau said. “It’s Big Ten, so it’s going to be tough competition.”

On Sunday, the Hoosiers welcome Michigan to Bloomington. The match commences at 11 a.m.

The 10-5 (3-0) Wolverines sit atop the Big Ten standings as they are the only
undefeated team this season.

Michigan also has the highest national ranking from the conference at No. 14.

The maize and blue have had a schedule chock-full of nationally ranked competition.

The team’s most notable wins came against No. 15 Clemson, No. 17 Notre Dame and No. 18 Vanderbilt.

The Hoosiers also squared off against Notre Dame this season, falling 6-1 to the Irish.
Michigan boasts four nationally ranked players in No. 10 Emina Bektas, No. 65 Brooke Bolender, No. 114 Mimi Nguyen and No. 121 Sam Critser.

Bektas and Bolender also combine to make the No. 7 ranked doubles tandem in the country.

The five freshmen on the team will have a bit more experience facing the Wolverines than the upperclassmen, Hureau said.

“The last two years I played a girl who was a senior last year, so she has graduated,” Hureau said. “Besides that we know some of the players, I think the freshmen will know the No. 1 better because she is a freshman.”

A key to IU’s success will be the team unity it has displayed throughout the season and especially in the last match against Ohio State, which was won by a close margin.

“We were a lot louder than Ohio State even though we were playing at their place last week,” Hureau said. “So I think the team chemistry plays a difference in the end.”