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Hureau and Vertesheva named All-Big Ten, women's tennis signs nationally ranked class

Indiana women's tennis players Leslie Hureau and Evgeniya Vertesheva were named First Team All-Big Ten by the conference coaches. It marks the second-consecutive year Hureau and Vertesheva have each earned all-conference accolades. Freshman Kayla Fujimoto was also recognized as Indiana's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.

Leslie Hureau

Photo by Mike Dickbernd/IU Athletics

Leslie Hureau

Hureau was 24-9 in singles play during the regular season, matching her win total from a year ago. She wrapped up the Big Ten season with a 5-5 singles record, all while playing at the No. 1 position in conference matches. The sophomore is currently ranked No. 57 in the country.

Hureau is also ranked on the doubles side with teammate Myriam Sopel at No. 56 nationally. The duo picked up three victories over ranked opponents this season, including a big win over then-No. 18 Mara Schmidt and Jennifer Rabot of rival Purdue.

Vertesheva stood at 26-9 at regular season's end in singles and went 8-2 in conference matches playing in the No. 2 position. She currently ranks No. 114 nationally. The junior picked up three wins over ranked opponents during the season including victories over currently ranked No. 66 Sam Critser of Michigan, No. 73 Belinda Niu of Northwestern and No. 117 Rachael White of Illinois. Vertesheva also teamed with Fujimoto in doubles. They finished 24-10 during the regular season.

Loring Inks Standout Class

The Indiana women's tennis program and Head Coach Lin Loring will add five new freshman to the 2011-12 roster. This group of future Hoosiers ranks as the No. 6 women's tennis recruiting class for 2011 in the country according to The Tennis Recruiting Network.

"It is nice recognition for our program to have our recruiting class named the sixth best in the country," Loring said. "That ranking refers to their ability as tennis players. More importantly, all five girls are straight A honor students and wonderful young ladies. They are definitely capable of carrying on our tradition of winning the Herbert Cup and graduating 100 percent of our players."

The five signees hail from the states of California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana and Kansas and are all successful students at their respective high schools.

"Coach Azcui and the entire team did a wonderful job of hosting these recruits when they were on campus," Loring said. "They know our team as well as they possibly can. Our three seniors especially did a good job of making sure they would be replaced by quality people."

Members of the class are as follows:

Ariel Beckerman -- Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara High School

Beckerman is admitted into IU's Hutton Honors College, possibly majoring in sports medicine and is currently a straight-A student at Santa Barbara. Beckerman is a four-star recruit for the class of 2011 and won several Southern California sportsmanship awards and was also a singles quarterfinalist at Mike Agassi's No Quit National Tournament. Her sister Jennifer is a junior and plays tennis at Vassar.

Carolyn Chupa -- Bradenton, Fla./Manatee High School

Chupa is currently a straight-A honors student at Manatee and is a direct admit into Indiana's Kelley School of Business next fall. Chupa is a Blue Chip recruit and ranked as high as No. 22 in the class of 2011. She won the Florida State High School doubles championship in 2010 and was a singles and doubles runner-up at the 2010 National Florida/Busch Open Championship. The Bradenton, Fla., native has been a doubles finalist at the USTA Winter Nationals as well as a singles quarterfinalist at the Copper Bowl and several other National Opens. She has two sisters, Angela and Mary, playing tennis at the Division I level. Angela is a junior at Wisconsin, and Mary is a freshman at West Virginia. Her mother is a Michigan graduate.

Alecia Kauss -- Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West High School

Kauss is a straight-A honors student at Blue Valley West and is a direct admit into IU's Kelley School of Business. Kauss is a five-star recruit and ranked as high as No. 27 in the 2011 class. She is a Kansas 6A state high school singles champion and finished in the top six or better in seven different National Opens. The Overland Park, Kan., native has also won several national and sectional sportsmanship awards. Her brother Austen is a senior and plays tennis at Iowa. Her mother attended Iowa and Michigan and her father went to Michigan and Nebraska.

Katie Klyczek -- Munster, Ind./Andrean Catholic High School

Klyczek is also a straight-A honors student at Andrean Catholic. She is a five-star recruit and has been ranked as high as No. 51 in the class of 2011. Klyczek has won the singles and doubles titles at the Midwest Open Championships, and also has picked up doubles championships at the Midwest Closed Championships and National Open Championships. The Munster, Ind., native earned numerous sportsmanship awards and this past August represented the Midwest at the World Team Tennis Junior Nationals in San Diego, Calif. Her brother Jonathon is a freshman at DePaul University and both of her parents attended graduate school at Purdue.

Shannon Murdy -- Atlanta, Ga./Marist School

Murdy is a straight-A honors student at Marist and is a direct admit into the Kelly School of Business as well as IU's Hutton Honors College. Murdy is a five-star recruit and was ranked as high as No. 49 nationally in the 2011 class. She played No. 1 for Marist's 2009 and 2010 Georgia AAAA State High School Championship teams. The Atlanta, Ga., native made the final 16 at the 2009 USTA Winter Nationals and won the doubles at the 2009 Southern Closed Championships.

Loring is excited about what these five players have to offer for the future of Indiana women's tennis.

"Despite graduating three of our six starters this spring," Loring said, "these five recruits combined with our returning players should give us a very exciting and competitive team. If they stay healthy, it is a team that can make a run in the NCAA Championships."