Team looks for two in a row against Irish

After winning every match they played last weekend against Murray State, the men's tennis team is ready to take on Notre Dame today at 4 p.m.\n"I expect to surprise (Notre Dame)," interim coach Matthew Pledger said. "The guys have been showing improvement every day ... the guys are excited for this match."\nNotre Dame's lineup has changed slightly since last season. After playing the No. 4 position last year, junior Luis Haddock will play No. 1 this season. Matthew Scott jumped from the No. 5 position to the No. 2 position. \nBut, despite the jumbled lineup, that doesn't mean the Hoosiers won't have tough matches. The Irish will be attempting to win their home opener for the eighth season in a row. \nThe Hoosiers, however, don't seem nervous.\n"Tennis (matches against Notre Dame) aren't that big of a rival, compared to football," freshman Viktor Libal said. "I'm only a freshman, so I only know one player. He's a good player, but I hope we succeed."\nPledger said he is optimistic, calling the team "awesome" in practice over the week.\nThe Irish and Hoosiers played each other last year, with Notre Dame defeating IU 6-1. The Irish, ranked No. 7 in the nation at the time of that match, won the doubles point with wins at two and three, then went on to get singles wins at two, three, four, five and six to bolster the win.\nHoosier Milan Rakvika claimed an impressive straight-set upset win over No. 11 Javier Taborga in the match, while Zach Held and Ryan Recht earned a doubles win, beating No. 5 Casey Smith and Taborga, 8-3 at one.\nNotre Dame and IU have met 63 times, with the Irish holding a 37-26 series edge.\nThe Irish have won nine of the last 11 meetings between the two teams, and strung together eight consecutive wins over the Hoosiers from 1992-1999.\nThe Hoosiers opened the spring dual match season last week with a 7-0 win over Murray State at the IU Tennis Center. IU dominated in that match, with five of the six singles matches being won in straight sets. This is Notre Dame's first match of the spring season.\nThe competition begins at 4 p.m. at the Eck Tennis Pavilion in South Bend.