Indiana University Athletics
Friday, September 25
Bloomington, Ind.
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Hoosier Classic
IUWT Begins Fall Schedule with Hoosier Classic
9/24/2015 8:29:00 AM | Women's Tennis
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana women's tennis team will kick off its 2015 fall schedule by hosting the Hoosier Classic this weekend at the IU Varsity Tennis Courts on Sept. 25-27. IU will welcome Cincinnati, Cleveland State, Marquette and Western Michigan to Bloomington. Play begins at 10:30 a.m. ET on Friday and then 10 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
With the fall schedule getting underway, the Indiana women's tennis team starts its season with an uphill battle as head coach Lin Loring attempts to replace four valuable seniors from a year ago.
This season marks Loring's 39th year as the head coach of the Hoosiers. His 831 career wins are the most ever by any coach in Division-I women's tennis history.
He will need to use his experience to maximize the performance of a team that lost four seniors in Carolyn Chupa, Alecia Kauss, Katie Klyczek and Shannon Murdy from a year ago that were pivotal players in the starting lineup all four years of their career.
The team is welcoming four freshmen this year in Madison Appel, Caitlin Bernard, Natalie Whalen and Danielle Wolf. Bernard leads the group by being ranked No. 46 and was a five-star recruit by TennisRecruiting.com for the 2015 class, but she will miss a good portion of this season after undergoing an ACL surgery a month ago.
The other three freshmen have been doing well so far and have impressed Loring with how well they are doing and how coachable they are.
After sitting out last season, senior transfer Sarah McLean will be eligible to play this season. She played two years in the SEC. The hope is that McLean's experience will carry over and even help the other girls.
"She's very anxious to play college tennis again," Loring said. "It's going to take her awhile to get in that frame of mind after sitting out a year unable to play."
Between McLean and the freshmen, five out of the nine players on the team are new. With a drastically different team, it will take some time to find out who will be the starters.
The fall schedule is the time to figure out how all of the new players will fit within the scheme. Loring will use this to determine who the doubles pairings will be for dual matches in the spring. This low-key portion of the schedule is a great opportunity for the players to prove themselves both in singles and doubles.
"Our emphasis in the fall is going to be finding the right doubles partners before we start dual matches," Loring said. "We feel that singles tend to take care of itself."
In addition to identifying the pairings, the fall schedule is also used to work on individual skills.
Improvement is what Loring hopes to get out of the fall tournaments, he is not worried about wins and losses, instead he is all about getting better.
Even though it is nice to start the season at home, Loring is looking forward to the first road trip of the fall, as that will be the team's first real opportunity to bond.
"With a new team the road trips are important," Loring said. "Early in the season the bus rides are great as it's their first time to bond and get to know each other. We're looking forward to our first trip in October."
With all of the new faces, bonding will be a pivotal part of the team's growth, which is important for success.
Throughout the fall schedule, the team will play in one tournament each month. After the Hoosier Classic the team will participate in the Vanderbilt Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. on Oct. 23-25. The Hoosiers end their fall schedule in Kalamazoo, Mich. to compete in the Western Michigan Tournament on Nov. 6-8.
The IU Winter Invitational is slated to start on Jan. 16-18 and match play will begin on Jan. 23 as the Hoosiers take on Miami (OH).
Before the team looks too far ahead, Loring is keeping his focus on the tournament this weekend.
With the fall schedule getting underway, the Indiana women's tennis team starts its season with an uphill battle as head coach Lin Loring attempts to replace four valuable seniors from a year ago.
This season marks Loring's 39th year as the head coach of the Hoosiers. His 831 career wins are the most ever by any coach in Division-I women's tennis history.
He will need to use his experience to maximize the performance of a team that lost four seniors in Carolyn Chupa, Alecia Kauss, Katie Klyczek and Shannon Murdy from a year ago that were pivotal players in the starting lineup all four years of their career.
The team is welcoming four freshmen this year in Madison Appel, Caitlin Bernard, Natalie Whalen and Danielle Wolf. Bernard leads the group by being ranked No. 46 and was a five-star recruit by TennisRecruiting.com for the 2015 class, but she will miss a good portion of this season after undergoing an ACL surgery a month ago.
The other three freshmen have been doing well so far and have impressed Loring with how well they are doing and how coachable they are.
After sitting out last season, senior transfer Sarah McLean will be eligible to play this season. She played two years in the SEC. The hope is that McLean's experience will carry over and even help the other girls.
"She's very anxious to play college tennis again," Loring said. "It's going to take her awhile to get in that frame of mind after sitting out a year unable to play."
Between McLean and the freshmen, five out of the nine players on the team are new. With a drastically different team, it will take some time to find out who will be the starters.
The fall schedule is the time to figure out how all of the new players will fit within the scheme. Loring will use this to determine who the doubles pairings will be for dual matches in the spring. This low-key portion of the schedule is a great opportunity for the players to prove themselves both in singles and doubles.
"Our emphasis in the fall is going to be finding the right doubles partners before we start dual matches," Loring said. "We feel that singles tend to take care of itself."
In addition to identifying the pairings, the fall schedule is also used to work on individual skills.
Improvement is what Loring hopes to get out of the fall tournaments, he is not worried about wins and losses, instead he is all about getting better.
Even though it is nice to start the season at home, Loring is looking forward to the first road trip of the fall, as that will be the team's first real opportunity to bond.
"With a new team the road trips are important," Loring said. "Early in the season the bus rides are great as it's their first time to bond and get to know each other. We're looking forward to our first trip in October."
With all of the new faces, bonding will be a pivotal part of the team's growth, which is important for success.
Throughout the fall schedule, the team will play in one tournament each month. After the Hoosier Classic the team will participate in the Vanderbilt Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. on Oct. 23-25. The Hoosiers end their fall schedule in Kalamazoo, Mich. to compete in the Western Michigan Tournament on Nov. 6-8.
The IU Winter Invitational is slated to start on Jan. 16-18 and match play will begin on Jan. 23 as the Hoosiers take on Miami (OH).
Before the team looks too far ahead, Loring is keeping his focus on the tournament this weekend.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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