Hoosiers slip past Penn State 4-3

The Hoosiers returned to their winning ways Sunday afternoon as the men's tennis team topped Penn State 4-3 in the seniors' final home match. With two Big Ten matches remaining in the regular season, the Hoosiers are 12-6 overall, 4-4 in the conference. \n"I'm proud of these guys, they got the job done," coach Ken Hydinger said. "Now we need to finish strong and concentrate on getting our final two wins on the road before the Big Ten Tournament."\nThe Hoosiers and Nittany Lions were well-matched in doubles competition. Penn State gained momentum early and managed to capture the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3. Junior Rahman Smiley and senior Ricardo Jordan fell 8-6 to Penn State's Jamie Gresh and Matt Nielsen at No. 1. Senior Paul Jacobson and sophomore Zach Held couldn't pull out a win against Matt Frakes and Steven Westhuyzen, falling 8-6 at No. 3. With the point already determined, IU's No. 2 doubles combination of seniors Ian Arons and Milan Rakvica beat Brad Nudell and Michael Anderson 9-8 (6). \nThe Hoosiers didn't let doubles discourage them as they pulled back into the winner's seat with four consecutive singles victories. Jacobson defeated Westhuyzen 6-2, 6-4 at the No. 4 spot. Following Jacobson's lead, Arons topped Nielsen 6-3, 6-4 at No. 2 and Smiley knocked off Frakes 7-5, 7-6 (1) at No. 3. Held showed poise in the final set of his match at No. 5, pulling off a 6-3, 7-6 (8) victory against Todd Stecko to secure the IU win. The final two singles matches took three sets with Penn State victorious in both. At No. 1, Rakvica fell to Gresh 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 and at No. 6 Bernard Tsepelman lost to Mudell 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.