Hoosiers lose close match to Virginia, 4-3

IU came into the weekend matches looking to boost its NCAA credentials before the start of Big Ten play by facing off against North Carolina State and No. 27 Virginia at the IU Tennis Center.\nJust like last weekend against Western Michigan, the team was once again in for a battle on the second day of play, as IU was faced with making a comeback against Virginia. But the Hoosiers came up short in a nail bitter, losing 4-3.\nLosing against a good team is tough, but the team has to look beyond just this match, junior Ryan Recht said. \n"It's real tough to come up short again," Recht said. "Virginia is a great team. It is disappointing right now, but we kind of have to look at the bigger picture and know that we are right there with a top 30 team."\nThough the Hoosiers came up on the short end of the 4-3 loss to Virginia (10-1), they were able to pull off upsets in singles, including two against ranked opponents.\nSophomore John Stone was victorious in his match against Darrin Cohen, who was previously unbeaten. This win, combined with his win against North Carolina State Saturday, pushed Stone's record to 7-4 on the year.\nRecht came through, as well, by beating No. 98 Stephen Rozek 6-4, 6-4. This win improved his record to 10-5 on the year. \nIn one of the more heated matches of the day, junior Jakub Praibis came from behind, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, to defeat No. 18 Doug Stewart, which tied the match up at 3-3 and improved him to 8-1 on the season.\nThis was a pleasant victory, especially after how dramatic the match was, including a disputed call resulting in a big point for Praibis, the junior said. \n"Obviously it feels good to win," Praibis said. "It was very tough, but in the end, I got lucky."\nSaturday, No. 64 IU faced off against North Carolina State and controlled from start to finish. The Hoosiers won 7-0 by winning all the doubles and singles matches. The win improved them to 5-3 on the year.\nThough the team won by a healthy margin, some matches were close throughout, including singles, in which five out of the six went to the third set. Luckily for the Hoosiers, they were able to pick up the victory in all those.\n"It was a tough match all the way," IU coach Ken Hydinger said. "We got down in singles some, but our guys kept working hard and came back. It's not always easy, but the guys are grinding good out there."\nWith the split this weekend against the Cavaliers and the Wolfpack, the Hoosiers went to 5-4 on the season.\nThe team is hoping another close loss to a good team will only motivate them the next time they come out and hopefully result in a win, Recht said.\n"Last time against Western Michigan, I took (the loss) as motivation to get better," Recht said. "We know we are right there. It's just a matter of getting over that little hump, and I have no doubt that we'll do it."\nThe Hoosiers will be looking to get over that hump as they start the Big Ten season against No. 40 Northwestern (9-4, 1-1) at 5 p.m. at the IU Tennis Center.\n-- Contact staff writer Dan Click at daaclick@indiana.edu.