Michigan road trip turns into losing trip

The IU men's tennis team dropped its second and third straight Big Ten matches over the weekend, with losses at Michigan and Michigan State. The No. 28 Hoosiers lost 4-3 at Michigan Saturday and then fell 6-1 at Michigan State Sunday. \nMichigan State (12-9 overall, 3-3 Big Ten) moved into a tie for fifth place in the Big Ten with IU with a 6-1 victory over the Hoosiers (11-6, 3-3).\nIU won the doubles point as the duos of senior Zach Held and freshman Viktor Libal and sophomore Ryan Recht and freshman John Stone posted 9-7 and 9-8 wins respectively. But, that was the lone bright spot for IU. The Spartans swept IU in singles, winning all six matches. \nMichigan State coach Gene Orlando said in a press release he was pleased with his team's dominant performance over IU.\n"Every win in the Big Ten is like winning 10 matches," Orlando said. "We've waited three years for this kind of team and we're committed to making this program even stronger. We have a great opportunity at taking this team even higher." \nAgainst Michigan Saturday, Held and Libal defeated Michael Rubin and Anthony Jackson 8-3 at the No. 1 doubles position and senior Petr Novotny and sophomore Jakub Praibis beat Vinny Gossain and David Anving 8-4 in the No. 3 spot. It marked the third straight match IU won the doubles point. \nOn the singles side, however, IU only logged two wins. Praibis downed Rubin 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(4) and Recht beat Gossain 6-2, 6-2. \n"We did a great job in the doubles," IU interim coach Matt Pledger said in a statement. "We came in looking at this as a way to take a step closer to getting a bye in the Big Ten tournament and being a top three team in the Big Ten. Michigan was a team that was down having lost a lot of matches this season and they really had nothing to lose. That was the worst singles effort overall we have had as a team this season. We were focusing on all the negatives, and you can't do that especially on the road in the Big Ten."\nIU will get a chance to end its losing streak when it travels to Iowa City, Iowa to play the Hawkeyes Saturday. The Hoosiers will then travel to Minneapolis Sunday. Both matches begin at noon.