Fall tennis season a time of improvement, fine tuning

As the fall tournament season has reached the midway point for the men's tennis team, players have been able to work on their games at several individual tournaments and have shown signs of improvement already, their coach said.\n"(Senior) Paul Jacobson has had an exceptional fall," coach Ken Hydinger said. "(Junior) Rahman Smiley played well in the All-American Tournament."\nOne area that has not been solved is doubles teammates. Since most of the tournaments have been for individuals, the coaching staff has not yet been able to fully assess the team's best doubles pairings.\n"We feel behind in that area," Hydinger said. "We really haven't worked on it."\nThe Rolex Region IV Championships next weekend in Madison, Wis., will provide IU one more opportunity to play competitive tennis until the off-season ends Jan. 13. \n"We still have to get used to playing indoors," Smiley said. "The courts are faster, and the lighting is different. I also want to work on beating good opponents, not just playing them tough."\nThe team is also rounding out the singles lineup. While the top four spots have been filled, a couple positions remain open.\n"We're uncertain right now about the bottom of the lineup," senior Joey Balsiger said. "We need people to step up into those fifth and sixth positions."\nOverall, the team is happy with the progress it has made, Balsiger said. \nThe unscored tournaments have allowed players to work on improving while competing against good opponents.\n"We're coming along well and are improving so much day by day," Balsiger said.\nThe team did not know exactly what to expect coming into the fall season. After placing third in the Big Ten last year, many people were expecting a drop off. But with the addition of sophomore Zach Held, who transferred from Michigan, and the improvement of existing team members, the Hoosiers hope to be moving up in the standings.\n"Everyone is working real hard and the team is excited," Smiley said. "People think there will be a drop off, but we're looking to get better"