Home match treats team differently

After being on the road for the last seven weeks, the IU men's tennis team was glad to finally be playing a match at home. During the extended road trip, the team dropped three matches, its only losses of the spring season. The No. 23 Hoosiers (11-4, 3-1 Big Ten) returned to its winning ways this weekend against No. 64 Penn State, but fell to No. 31 Ohio State. \nIU defeated the Nittany Lions 6-1 on Saturday at the Indiana Tennis Center and snapped its brief two-match losing streak. But the Hoosiers were knocked off by the Buckeyes 5-2 Sunday.\nThe lone point IU dropped against Penn State (12-4, 2-2) was at the No. 1 singles position. Sophomore Jakub Praibis retired in the second set because of a reoccurring thumb injury. IU did not relinquish another point on Saturday.\n"I was really pleased with our intensity today," IU interim coach Matt Pledger said. "We did a lot better job of playing hard from beginning to end. In our last couple of matches, we have not done that. We were intense from the very first point of doubles, and I was happy with that. I still think we can play a lot better because we didn't play nearly as well as we did earlier this season."\nIU began the match by winning the doubles point. The Hoosiers won at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, including a come from behind victory by freshmen John Stone and Viktor Libal at the No. 2 spot. The duo was down 6-3 and came back to clinch the doubles point for IU with a 9-7 victory over Malcolm Scatliffe and Brad Nudell.\nMeanwhile in singles action, sophomore Ryan Recht breezed through his match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, over Matt Frakes. The win was Recht's eleventh of the season tying him for the team lead with Praibis. Recht highlighted his success in singles. \n"Coming in, I knew his forehand side was weak," Recht said. "I tried to use that to my advantage. I was able to get off to a good start, and I rolled with that."\nRecht said it was a good feeling to playing at home again and added it was different. Despite the difference, Recht's game was on.\n"My forehand was solid today," Recht said. "I used my forehand, which gave the rest of my game confidence. The good start helped me control the match from the outset."\nSenior Zach Held clinched the team victory for IU with 6-3, 6-3 win. It marked Held's first time playing at the No. 3 position this season, as he normally plays at the No. 4 spot. \n"Every win in the Big Ten is critical," Held said. "When you start winning in the Big Ten, people start to take notice of you. Winning also gives us confidence as a team to know that we can get the job done." \nHeld was able to hold his opponent at bay and improved his overall record to 9-5. \n"It felt like everything was working," Held said. "I was popping my serve. I was making him play every point, too. But, I really started popping my serve and that helped me greatly."\nIn addition Libal won at No. 2 singles, 6-4, 6-3. Senior Petr Novotny and sophomore Tommy Bagnato added victories at the No. 4 and No. 5 positions, respectively. \nOn Sunday, Praibis downed Buckeye Phil Metz 6-3, 6-4, at the No. 2 spot to claim IU's lone singles point. The Hoosiers won the doubles point against Ohio State (14-4, 4-0), but lost the match as IU had to battle uphill all afternoon. \n"The big thing we really need to work on is finding ways to win the match when we are up," Pledger said. "Double faulting, missing easy shots when the match is on the line, that is when you find out your true colors, if you are a fighter, if you are a competitor. I am proud of the way the guys fought at the end of the match, but then it is frustrating to see how we can work so hard just to give it away"