Praibis falls in 1st round of NCAAs

After a career of trying to make a name for himself, IU senior Jakub Praibis tried once more to etch his name on the list of All-Americans. In order to qualify as an All-American, Praibis needed to finish in the top-16 of the tournament. \nBut Praibis fell to Virginia Tech University senior and the No. 72 player in the country Stephane Rod in the First Round of the NCAA Singles Championship Wednesday in College Station, Texas, at the Mitchell Tennis Center. \nRod, a Swiss native, defeated Praibis by means of a tiebreaker in the first set 7-6 (6) followed by a 6-4 decision to clinch the match.\nDuring the first set of the match, both players consistently held serve until they reached a tiebreaker. \n"The tiebreaker was awkward," Praibis said. "Before then, we kept holding serve. The tiebreaker changed that completely." \nAfter exchanging a few short scoring streaks, Rod, a left-hander, pulled ahead to win the tiebreaker 8-6, winning the first set.\nIn the second set, Rod took control early going ahead 4-1. Praibis responded by holding serve and breaking Rod to pull to 4-3, before dropping two of the following three games to lose the set and match. \nHeading into the tournament, Praibis boasted a 22-10 record on the year and had been named 1st team All-Big Ten for the second consecutive season. Praibis came into the match at No. 58 in the nation. \nAlthough Praibis felt well-prepared heading into the tournament, he believed that if he would have pushed himself just a little bit more, the results would have been much \ndifferent. \n"I had a lot of chances there, but I didn't execute," Praibis said. "I probably had three chances to break (point in the first set) and I let him come back. I should have adjusted better to the game. It was very disappointing."\nIU Coach Ken Hydinger said he and Praibis were a little concerned that Rod had a big serve and the he was a left-handed player, considering the IU men's tennis team didn't have any lefties for Praibis to practice with during the year. But Hydinger said he believed that Praibis was clearly the better tennis player.\n"Eight times out of 10 matches, Jakub would have won," Hydinger said. "This was just a \nloophole. Rod doesn't move well, but Jakub couldn't exploit that. I think we saw Jakub just play two levels below his capability."\nHydinger hoped that Praibis would have won at least two matches in order for him to be named as an All-American.\nWednesday marked the end of Praibis' tenure on the Hoosier men's tennis team lineup. He's excited to head back home and relax for the summer. \n"I'm finishing my degree next year and then we'll see what happens," he said.\nHydinger said he will miss having a good mature player like him on the team next year. \n"He's a beautiful athlete who moves very well and has quality ball-striking ability," he said. "With that serve, he can be real tricky. I'll miss having an anchored-down No. 1 player on the team who can beat anybody we play"