Team gets shutout by Minnesota, defeats Iowa

On a weekend where the sun was out and temperatures reached into the 80's, the No. 56 Hoosiers (11-9, 5-3) started cold but heated up to salvage the weekend split and finish tied with Northwestern for third in the Big Ten. IU lost to Minnesota 7-0 but turned around and beat the Iowa Hawkeyes, 7-0.\nFirst up for IU was No. 33 Minnesota (12-7, 7-1) Saturday at the IU Tennis Center. The Hoosiers were looking to keep their conference doubles streak alive and provide the team with the 1-0 advantage going into singles. Junior Jakub Praibis and sophomore Dmytro Ishtuganov won at No. 3 doubles, 8-2, but neither No. 1 or No. 2 earned a victory. The loss at doubles was the first during Big Ten play for IU.\nThough they were down 1-0, the Hoosiers started singles well, winning the first set in three of the matches. Unfortunately for the Hoosiers, that was where the luck ended, as IU took four of the singles matches into the third set but was unable to come away with a victory. \nThough the team had a tough loss, they remained focused on the match ahead: Iowa, Praibis said.\n"For the team, we had a tough loss against a good team," Praibis (13-5, 3-3) said. "The best healing for a tough loss is a win."\nThe Hoosiers got exactly that -- a win against the Big Ten's last place team, Iowa, 7-0.\nThings got off on the right foot for IU as they claimed the doubles point for the seventh time during Big Ten play.\nThe team got a boost yesterday afternoon as Praibis -- whose play had been limited due to injury -- made his return to the top spot in the lineup.\nWith Praibis back at No.1 and the entire team playing solid games, the Hoosiers made short work of the Hawkeyes (3-14, 0-8) as all of the matches were straight set victories.\nGetting the victory was big for the team, as they kept its conference and overall records above .500 going into the last weekend of the regular season, junior Ryan Recht said.\n"Getting this victory against Iowa was big for us, giving us confidence going into our road matches next weekend," Recht said. "It feels good being 5-3 in the conference and knowing that we can improve upon next weekend."\nThough the Hoosiers are having to deal with injuries, they feel that the level of play is strong. \nHealth is a major factor for IU as the team goes down the stretch to finish out the regular season and playing in the Big Ten tournament. \nThe Hoosiers' goal all season has been advancing to the NCAA tournament. Despite their play of late in winning four of their last five, including victories against three ranked opponents, IU coach Ken Hydinger feels it will be tight getting into NCAA tournament, he said.\n"We'll have to see what draw we get and what we do next week and at the Big Ten tournament," Hydinger said. "We've got to walk a tightrope to get in."\nWith the win against Iowa, IU closed out its home season with a 7-5 record, including winning four of its last five. IU will take to the road and attempt to keep its NCAA tournament hopes alive against in-state rival No. 68 Purdue (9-10, 4-4) noon Saturday in West Lafayette at the Varsity Tennis Courts.\n-- Contact staff writer Dan Click at daaclick@indiana.edu.