Hoosiers match up with Blue Raiders

After coming off a tough home loss, 6-1 against Notre Dame to start the season, the Hoosiers will hit the road to face off against the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders at noon this Saturday at the Racquet Club Indoor Facility in Murfreesboro, Tenn.\nThis will be the second ranked opponent the Hoosiers have gone up against this season, as the Blue Raiders are ranked No. 67 in the country. MTSU has six players that have a winning record in singles and also boasts two nationally-ranked doubles teams. At No. 30 in the country are the tandem of seniors Trevor Short and Kirk Jackson, while the team of sophomore Brandon Allan and freshman Kai Schledorn are No. 46.\nDoubles will play an important role in the match, IU sophomore Neil Kenner said.\n"Doubles sets the tone of the match," Kenner said. "If you get that doubles point, it makes it kind of tough for the other team to come back, being down 1-0."\nComing back from injury and playing in his first match back was junior Jakub Praibis. Praibis was the only Hoosier to pick up a point against Notre Dame and said it was nice to pick up a victory in his first match back.\n"I think I played pretty well," Praibis said. "He (my opponent) was a very good player, so I was obviously happy to win."\nGoing on the road is something that all teams face no matter what the sport, and it is just something that has to be done, IU coach Ken Hydinger said.\n"You got to go on the road and beat good teams on the road," Hydinger said. "You got to play well on the road as well."\nMany of those same sentiments were shared by Kenner.\n"I try to treat each match the same," Kenner said. "I play my hardest no matter who I am against or where I am at."\nAs for improvements, Praibis believes that playing smart ball, thinking more positively with consistent play and not playing out of anger can not only help him, but also the Hoosiers this weekend.\nDespite going on the road after a loss, the Hoosiers have remained confident, Kenner said.\n"I think everyone did a good job not getting too down on themselves after the loss," Kenner said. "I think everyone needs to go in with a positive attitude and be ready to fight and to grind for every point… if we do that we should be alright."\nThough having confidence for the match against the Blue Raiders is important, Hydinger believes that something else is more important.\n"It is nice to be confident, but more important is to keep their determination because there will be times when your confidence is shaken and you got to work through those times," Hydinger said. "I can only think about where our men's basketball team and their confidence level had to be at certain times this season… and now look at them, sitting atop the Big Ten."\n-- Contact staff writer Dan Click at daaclick@indiana.edu.