IU slips up in Muncie, looks ahead to Vandy

This is not how the IU men's tennis team planned on starting the weekend. \nTwo days before its impending home date with No. 17 Vanderbilt, the Hoosiers stumbled in their visit to the Muncie YMCA, falling to No. 72 Ball State, 4-3.\n"This is a very disappointing loss for us, considering the win we had last Saturday," IU coach Ken Hydinger said, in reference to IU's convincing home win over then-No. 26 Louisville. "There will not be many more opportunities to get wins like this, considering our upcoming schedule. You've got to be able to follow up a solid performance, and we didn't do that today."\nThe Hoosiers began the afternoon by yielding the doubles point. Despite the loss of the crucial point, IU still seemed to have the singles matches well under control through the first sets. \nSenior Jakub Praibis, 6-1 in singles before the Ball State match, ceded the first set at the No. 1 position and was unable to recover in the second, losing 6-1, 6-3. Fellow senior Ryan Recht opened his match at No. 2 by winning the first set, but then dropped two close sets to lose the contest. Freshman Michael McCarthy continued his strong rookie campaign by winning at the No. 4 spot, but it was one of only three wins the Hoosiers could muster.\n"We came in knowing they would be tough," McCarthy said. "Jakub and Ryan's matches could have gone either way. We all started pretty good in singles, some things just got away from us."\nHydinger expressed the team's displeasure with the result.\n"Everyone is on the same page -- we're all disappointed," he said. "From here we will go back to brief practice, and try and work on ironing out things in the individual sense. Everyone needs to be able to adjust their games."\nThat priming process will be geared toward another home upset win Sunday, when Vanderbilt will come to the IU Tennis Center. The 17th-ranked Commodores will present their own challenge for the Hoosiers. \nUnbeaten on the spring season, Vanderbilt has dismantled almost every one of its opponents thus far, including an impressive 5-2 win over then-No. 49 Michigan.\n"To beat Vanderbilt, we are going to have to come ready to play with all three doubles and all six singles," Hydinger said. "We've got to bring all of it to the table. We have to have that fighting spirit, that willingness to compete until your gut aches."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Eamonn Brennan at eabrenna@indiana.edu.