Team struggles, defeats Hawkeyes

The men's tennis team defeated Iowa Saturday to pick up its first conference victory of the season and their first overall win in the last four matches. \n"We needed this match," coach Ken Hydinger said. "We came in 0-2 in the conference and now are 1-2, so we have a chance to earn our way out of a hole."\nBut climbing from the hole did not come easily for the Hoosiers. \nThe struggles started in doubles competition. Playing against one of the top doubles teams in the nation at No. 1 doubles, Senior Ricardo Jordan and junior Rahman Smiley had their hands full. The tandem of senior Tyler Cleveland and sophomore Stuart Waters proved too much for IU claiming the 8-2 victory. But the Hoosiers fought back and pulled even, picking up the win at No. 2 doubles. With the doubles point on the line, senior Paul Jacobson and sophomore Zach Held edged out a tough 9-7 victory at No. 3 doubles. \nWith one point on the board, the Hoosiers snatched two victories with senior Ian Arons winning at the No. 2 spot and Smiley defeating his opponent at the No. 4 position. Up three, the Hoosiers dropped matches at the No. 1, 3, and 5 spots, pulling the Hawkeyes even with the Hoosiers at three all. \nWith one match left, IU found itself in position to watch another Big Ten match slip through their fingers. Freshman Bernard Tsepelman had other plans. After dropping the first set 4-6 to sophomore Eric Kozlowski, Tsepelman turned the match around. In claiming the second set, Tsepelman evened the match and sent it to a third set which decided who won not only the singles point, but the entire match. Tsepelman was able to pull out the clutch victory 6-4, providing the Hoosiers with their first win in two weeks. \n"At the start we talked about this match about being about toughness," Hydinger said. "Toughness is about doing what you have to do and we did that today"