Men's tennis beats Butler, Bradley

The last time the Hoosiers saw collegiate-level tennis, senior Dmytro Ishtuganov and sophomore Dara McLoughlin fought their way to the final two rounds of the Big Ten Singles Championships. Two months later, the IU men's tennis team picked up right where it left off by sweeping the opening two matches of the 2006 spring season.\nThe Hoosiers defeated defending Horizon League champion Butler 4-3 in the morning of the tennis doubleheader. Later, IU stormed past Bradley 7-0. With the wins, IU upped its record to 20-2 in home openers under IU coach Ken Hydinger.\n"I thought we played a lot better in the afternoon match against Bradley," Hydinger said. "We came out with a lot of focus and did what we needed to get the job done. When you play this much tennis in one day, it can be tiring, but I think it is good for our players and their games."\nIU fluttered a little with its doubles in the morning match against the Bulldogs. The No. 9-ranked doubles tandem in the ITA Fall Midwest Regional Rankings of Ishtuganov and senior Neil Kenner fell at the No. 1 position. While the No. 2 team also suffered defeat, freshman Peter Antons and junior David Bubenicek picked up an 8-5 win at the No. 3 spot. \n"It feels very exciting for me. It was my first doubles match ever for IU," Bubenicek said. "We still need to get better. We need to take more chances -- we were too tight today."\nAfter a Butler victory at No. 2 singles, Bubenicek again helped his cause, winning a two-set match at No. 4 singles, 6-4, 7-6 (4). After a win at No. 1 singles, the match came down to Kenner.\n"I just tried to focus on every point, and when I was down 2-1, I knew I had to do something," Kenner said. "I try not to pay attention to the other courts, but I knew it was coming."\nThe Dallas native solidified the Hoosiers' opening victory with a three-set at the No. 3 position, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4.\nIt took little time to dispose of an anemic Bradley team in the afternoon as it showed no ill effects from a grueling opening match. IU won all three doubles matches and did not drop a set in singles play. Hydinger switched around the lineup, particularly in doubles, and the Hoosiers didn't miss a beat.\nThe Hoosiers return to action at the Indiana Tennis Center on Saturday with matches against Toledo at 9 a.m., and Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne at 3:30 p.m.