Defeat over Notre Dame 'a great day for IU tennis'

IU defeated No. 27 Notre Dame in a close match of the season this weekend. Notre Dame held a 3-2 lead after winning two of three doubles matches and claiming the doubles point, but IU won four of the six singles matches, upsetting the Fighting Irish 4-3.\n"This was a great day for IU tennis," interim head coach Matthew Pledger said. "Everyone contributed to the win. The guys have really come together."\nThe doubles action took place first, and Notre Dame provided tough competition. Senior Zach Held and sophomore Ryan Recht started out in the No. 1 doubles position, falling to Brent D'Amico and Eric Scott 8-5. Freshman Viktor Libal and senior Petr Novotny played No. 2 doubles, and were defeated by Luis Haddock and Brian Farrell 8-1. The No. 3 doubles players, freshman John Stone and sophomore Jakub Praibis, defeated Paul McNaughton and Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo 8-6, even after IU had already lost the doubles point.\n"Notre Dame came out on fire in doubles play today," Pledger said. "I was pleased with John and Jakub's fight. They knew that the point was already lost, but they continued to fight and really set the tone for singles play."\nThe singles play proved to be challenging but ended in the Hoosiers' favor. Libal played his second dual match of his college career at No. 1 singles against Haddock, ranked No. 72 nationally. Libal lost 6-4, 6-2.\nMatthew Scott, another nationally ranked player on the Notre Dame team, lost to Praibus. Praibus defeated the No. 119 nationally ranked player 6-1, 7-6.\nAt No. 3 singles, Notre Dame won a close match. D'Amico defeated Novotny 7-5, 6-4.\nAt the No. 4 singles position, Held made a good example of himself for the team. He lost his first set to Farrell but came back in his next two 6-2, 6-3, for the final victory.\n"Zach didn't let the loss get him down," Pledger said. "He played smart after losing his first set. He used his opponent's weakness to his advantage."\nRecht defeated Eric Langenkamp 6-4, 7-5, while Jullien Vuilliez defeated Patrick Buchanan in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.\nIU returned home on Sunday to take on No. 37 Middle Tennessee State. The Hoosiers swept every match on the day on their way to a 7-0 victory. The win was IU's second straight over a ranked opponent.\n"To beat a team like Middle Tennessee State, 7-0, when they are ranked 37th in the country is an unbelievable accomplishment for these guys," Plegder said in a press release. "The guys have been coming in day in and day out and putting their work in. I have seen the guys' improvements and their confidence getting better and better. I couldn't be any more proud of these guys"