Seniors' hopes of defeating rival Boilermakers shattered

Seniors Ian Arons, Milan Rakvica, Ricardo Jordan and Paul Jacobson were all looking for the same thing entering Sunday's match-up with rival Purdue -- their first win against the Boilermakers. \nBut the seniors' hopes were shattered as Purdue defeated IU 5-2, dropping the Hoosiers to 8-2 on the season and 0-2 in Big Ten play. \nGetting the best of the rivalry for the fourth consecutive year, Purdue (7-2) was able to get the early lead in the match with a rare sweep of the doubles matches. But it did not come easy, with two of the matches going to tiebreakers before they were decided. \n"We had a lot of opportunities that we just didn't take advantage of," Jordan said. "We played consistently throughout but we could have done better."\nTempers raged, emotions ran wild and rackets flew as the match went into singles competition. Looking to get back for the losses at all three doubles positions, the Hoosiers came out strong, Arons in particular. After the 9-8 (4) loss at No. 2 doubles, Arons was hungry for a victory and Purdue's Carl McCafferty was his prey.\n"I had been waiting for this match all week," Arons said. "It was a really good match. I felt that after I broke him in the first set he got down. I was able to step up my game and serve really well and play well all around."\nWith Arons' win, momentum seemed to be leaning toward the Hoosiers' side. The crowd grew louder as the hopes for a Hoosier victory grew. But just as quickly as the momentum shifted, the Boilermakers won it back with wins at No. 1 and No. 6 singles. Down 3-1, IU found itself in a compromising position. The Hoosiers would have to win all three remaining matches to claim the victory. \nJunior Rahman Smiley eased tensions with clinching a win at No. 4 singles. After easily taking the first set, Smiley fought through a second set tiebreaker to defeat Derek Miller 6-3, 7-6 (2). \n"Rahman played a good match today," coach Ken Hydinger said. "He did a good job of closing out against a tough opponent. He's capable of big wins like this one and today he proved it."\nWith two matches remaining, the crowds focus turned to Jacobson and sophomore Zach Held. Both matches were pushed to three sets, but they both got there in different manners.\nPlaying at No. 3 singles, Jacobson appeared to be rolling to a victory before being broken at the end of the second set, eventually losing the set in a tiebreaker. Held, after starting slow and losing the first set, rebounded to sweep through the second set, forcing a third. \nHeld stuck close to Purdue's Andrew Wakefield as they exchanged games. As the match drew near to the end, controversial line calls started to draw tempers from both sides. Held and Wakefield kept the line judge busy, questioning several calls, although few were overruled. One such call by Wakefield would prove to be the final touch the Boilermakers needed to clinch the victory. \nJacobson, now playing for pride, found himself down 4-1. A shocked and quiet crowd would watch Jacobson pull together to even the match at 4-4. But Jacobson eventually ran out of gas and fell to Scott Mayer, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5. \n"They got the job done and we didn't," Hydinger said. "Give them credit for coming out and playing tough."\nAlthough the seniors were unable to accomplish their goal Sunday, they might have another chance to defeat the Boilers if they were to happen to meet in the Big Ten Tournament in April. And the Hoosiers are hoping that will be the case.\n"We would pay a million dollars to play these guys in the Big Ten tournament," Arons said. "We feel we are a better team"