Hoosiers do not go winless in Big Ten

With the last two regular season matches looming, the IU men's tennis team did not want to become the first IU men's tennis team to go winless in Big Ten action. Only one time since 1963 has the team finished with only one conference victory, that coming in 1982. Last year, IU won five conference matches. \nAll the hard work finally paid off for the Hoosiers Sunday. IU won their first Big Ten match of the season 4-3 against Michigan State at the Indiana Tennis Center.\n"This match was a lot better because of the final result," coach Ken Hydinger said. "Give the guys credit, they could have hung their heads after yesterday, but they didn't. They came out with real determination today."\nThe seniors were instrumental in the last home match of their careers and the deciding match was played by a senior. Ari Widlansky had a difficult and long match against the Spartans' Mike Hodge. Widlansky, who did not see much playing time until this season, dropped the first set 7-6 in a tiebreaker, but recovered to win the next two 6-4, 6-2 at the No. 6 position. \n"Ari's passing shots were the best they've ever been," Hydinger said. "He served consistently, too. What a great way for Ari to finish his final match at home, in front of his friends and family."\nWidlansky said it's absolutely great to get a win, and the team kept fighting, refusing to give up.\n"It's great to have teammates like this," Widlansky said. "It doesn't get any better than this." \nHe improved to 12-11 this year and has won two of his past three matches. \nSenior Milan Rakvica closed his regular season career in fine fashion and etched his name in the IU (7-15, 1-9) record books. He claimed sole possession of fifth place on IU's all-time singles wins list. Rakvica, who captured his 90th career victory, moved past David Collins on the all-time wins list. \n"Milan is one of the best players we ever have had at IU," Hydinger said. "I am proud of him. It was very nice to see him win all four of his matches to close at home. We are going to miss him dearly next year."\nThis year, Rakvica is 17-14 in singles and he said it was special to win in front of the biggest home crowd of the season.\n"It's a great feeling and so great for the seniors," Rakvica said. "No one fights harder than this team. It's just a beautiful feeling."\nThe third senior, Rahman Smiley, did not play last weekend because of an ankle injury. He said he was very disappointed, but was happy for the team.\nAlso victorious against the Spartans (14-11, 2-8) were freshmen Jakub Praibis and junior Zach Held. Praibis was victorious 6-3, 6-1 and Held won 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. It was Held's first singles victory since March 24, in a match against Iowa. Held's record is 11-20 this year, while Praibis is 15-4 and 5-2 in conference action. \nBefore its exciting match on Sunday, IU lost 5-2 to Michigan on Saturday. IU dropped the doubles point to begin the match, which was played outside. \n"Long season, hard match, good team, and the guys came out and played hard," Hydinger said. "A lot of people are going to look and see the score, but athletics is a lot about a guy's heart. It's not always about the score." \nRakvica won a 6-1, 7-6 decision over the Wolverines' Henry Beam. \nHydinger said he knew Rakvica was down a break in the middle of the second set, but Hydinger said he came back and worked through it. \n"When Milan has that look in his eye," Hydinger said, "he's the best in the Big Ten." \nRakvica also paired with fellow senior Ari Widlansky to win 8-5 in doubles. They defeated Michigan's (14-7, 5-5) Chris Shaya and Brett Baudinet.\n"We tried to jump on them and keep the energy level real high," Rakvica said. "We tried to press them and we were pretty successful. It was a nice win for us and it was a good feeling to win with Ari."\nPraibis, who suffered a hip injury which caused him to miss two matches, picked up right where he left off before the injury. He defeated Ben Cox 6-2, 6-3 and has filled in several times at the No. 2 position. Praibis has won seven of his past ten singles matches, yet has only won one of his past five doubles matches.