Team picks up dramatic victory

The men's tennis team couldn't stop Illinois' 48-match winning streak Saturday, but made amends Sunday by topping No. 44 Northwestern 4-3. \nHoosier sophomore Zach Held nailed down the win with a three-set win at No. 5 singles, giving the Hoosiers their second Big Ten victory of the season. \nNo. 39 IU (10-5, 2-3 Big Ten) lost the doubles point, but got victories at No. 1 and 2 singles to grab two early points. Senior Milan Rakvica rolled past Northwestern's Brad Erikson in straight sets, and senior Ian Arons did the same to Northwestern's Jackie Jenkins. Junior Rahman Smiley lost his first set at No. 4 singles, but bounced back to win in three sets. But IU dropped both the No. 3 and 5 singles points, setting the stage for Held. \nHeld stormed to a quick first-set win beating the Wildcats' (8-7, 2-3) Ryan Edlefsen 6-2. Edlefsen then pulled even by winning the second set 7-6. In the third set, Held grabbed a 6-5 lead and raced to a 40-love lead. Edlefsen fought back to tie the set and had match point, but couldn't put Held away, who closed the match to seal the victory. \n"Forget rankings, Northwestern is a good team," coach Ken Hydinger said. "There are a lot of quality teams in the Big Ten. This was a good win for us. I am very proud of the way our guys played today."\nHydinger said he was also proud of IU's effort against four-time defending Big Ten champion Illinois (12-5, 4-0), but the Hoosiers weren't able to sidetrack the No. 22 Illini, who won the doubles point and didn't look back on their way to a 5-2 victory. \nRakvica and freshman Bernard Tsepelman notched IU's only singles victories. Rakvica dropped Illinois' Graydon Oliver, the nation's 20th-ranked singles player.