Hoosiers advance in Big Ten Tournament

The men's tennis team defeated Iowa Thursday afternoon in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament at the University of Wisconsin. IU beat the No. 9 seed Hawkeyes 4-3. The Hoosiers advance to the second round to compete against the No. 1 seed University of Illinois. \nCoach Ken Hydinger praised the play of junior Rahman Smiley as one of the keys in the victory.\n "We played great in the doubles matches and got the early point, which has been big in so many of the Big Ten matches this year," coach Ken Hydinger said. "When I was watching Rahman play today, I got to thinking about how far he has come. He is more consistent and just a better overall game. He played tough today after falling down in the first set and really came through in a clutch situation."\nThe Hoosiers captured three of the six singles matches from Iowa. Smiley, seniors Ian Arons and Paul Jacobson picked up wins in singles competition. Arons win was his fourth straight, tying him for eighth on the all-time singles wins list with 77. Jacobson's win was the 86th of his Hoosier career. He is sixth in singles victories on the all-time Indiana men's tennis list.\nIU will face the Fighting Illini at 10 a.m. today for second round action. The Hoosiers competed against Illinois once this season, losing 5-2 in Bloomington. Illinois currently has a conference winning streak of more than 50 matches. \nHydinger said that if the team can win today's match, they can go deep into the tournament.\n"If we can win tomorrow, we can win the tournament"