Hoosiers beat Ball State despite splitting singles

On a rainy, but warm, day what a good idea it would be to play tennis indoors at the Indiana Tennis Center. IU men's tennis (3-1) beat Ball State (2-2) 4-3 Tuesday. \nThe Hoosiers were led by senior Milan Rakvica. He won his No. 1 singles match 6-4, 6-0 over the Cardinals' Jason Pressel. Rakvica improved his spring singles record to 3-1 and his season mark to 9-5. Also winning in straight sets for IU in singles were freshman Jakub Praibis (3-1 spring) and junior Zach Held (3-1 spring). \n"We came out and played great. We turned it around in the doubles," Held said. "In the singles we took it to them and never gave them a chance.\nIU squeaked out the doubles point, even though the Hoosiers No. 1 doubles team of senior Rahman Smiley and freshman Ryan Recht lost 8-6. They fell to 3-1 in the spring and 7-2 overall. They lost to the Cardinal duo of Pressel and Kevin Burnett. \nCoach Ken Hydinger was indifferent about winning the doubles point, even though it was still important. "The dynamics change, sometimes they have to learn to come back from being down one," Hydinger said. "However, it isn't always good to be fighting uphill."\nThe IU doubles teams of Rakvica and Held were victorious 8-5. In addition, Praibis and freshman Reid Strand won 8-4. \nRecht lost in singles as well as doubles. He lost in singles 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to the Cardinals' Matt Laramore to drop to 0-3 in the spring. \n"Both of my opponents had really good serves," Recht said. "I just got down one early break in each match. It's tough to lose both singles and doubles. I'm happy that the team won though." \nRakvica echoed Recht's sentiments and discussed his singles match. \n"It's a nice win. I played the best tennis I've played so far this year," Rakvica said. "I overplayed my man in singles and it was a satisfying win."\nAs well as losing in doubles, Smiley also lost a long No. 2 singles match to Andrew Seni, 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (1). Smiley's record now stands at 2-1 in the spring. \nHydinger spoke highly of his senior leader Smiley.\n"Rahman played very well today and he has even been bothered by a bad back," Hydinger said. "And the fact that he was playing a tremendous opponent, he did great."\nIn addition to being proud of his seniors, Hydinger was proud of his freshmen after the victory.\n"The freshmen are fighting and playing better," Hydinger said. "Jon (Magnes) was nervous, but he's getting better," Hydinger said. "Praibis did a nice job. He played a personal type of match. Ryan (Recht) has to learn to play better and play more consistently as well."\nThe Hoosiers seem to be developing well and have a positive mindset.\n"I tried to stay relaxed and show my opponent that I was going to beat him," Held said. "I knew I would do my best." \nThe Hoosiers were pleased to get a victory over one of their state rivals.\n"The objective was to win and we obviously were able to do that. They have an aggressive coach and an experienced team," Hydinger said. "We grew a bit today." \nThe Hoosiers return to action Saturday when they host Southwest Missouri State at 9 a.m. and Murray State at 5 p.m. at the IU Tennis Center.