Hoosiers hit road for Purdue, Illinois

When the No. 59 Hoosiers (11-9, 5-3) hit the road this weekend, they will be trying to keep one streak alive while ending two others. IU will face Purdue tomorrow at noon in West Lafayette and then head to Champaign, Ill., to face the No.1 Illinois Fighting Illini.\nIn taking on No. 62 Purdue (9-10, 4-4), IU will be looking to extend its road match winning streak after defeating Penn State 6-1 in its last trip. In the process, it is trying to snap a seven-match losing streak to the Boilermakers.\nAs far as challenges go, No. 1 Illinois (23-0, 8-0) is as tough a test as the Hoosiers can face. The Fighting Illini are currently on a 55-match winning streak and have also taken the last seven from IU. \nIllinois backs up its gaudy record with substance, as it boasts the top-ranked singles player in the nation in Brian Wilson. The Illini have three additional team members in the rankings, at No. 36, 80 and 113, respectively.\nDoubles is an additional strength for the Fighting Illini with all three doubles teams. In the rankings, their highest team is No. 4. \nWhen No. 62 junior Jakub Praibis (13-5, 3-3) takes to the court in Champaign, it will mark his second opportunity facing the nation's top-ranked player this year. Earlier this season he matched up with Ohio State's Jeremy Wurtzman and fell in three sets.\nThe chance to face the top-ranked player is a big opportunity, Praibis said.\n"I'm looking forward to it, but it will be different this time because of the injury," Praibis said. "It should be extra motivation facing No. 1, but I should be playing every match the same."\nFor IU, it could be easy to overlook Purdue with the No. 1 team coming the following day, but the Boilermakers aren't being taken lightly.\nBeside the obvious reasons of the rivalry between the schools and Purdue's recent dominance in the series, there is also position at stake in the Big Ten Tournament.\nA win against the Boilermakers would assure IU of no worse than fifth in the conference and an extra day of rest in the tournament.\nEven with half of the roster being new to IU, the importance of the match is known to all, junior Ryan Recht said.\n"Its very big; IU and Purdue have great tradition no matter (what) the sport," Recht said. "The newcomers are well aware of the tradition, and everyone will be extra pumped up to get a good win."\nIn spite of Illinois' recent success, it can't be assumed IU is headed for a loss.\nThough IU lost 7-0 to Illinois last season, it won one of the doubles matches as Recht and sophomore John Stone defeated the tandem of Michael Calkins and Amer Delic 8-6.\nClose losses to ACC champion No. 8 Virginia and No. 20 Ohio State, which lost a 4-3 decision to Illinois, has the Hoosiers believing they can compete with anyone in the Fighting Illini's lineup and possibly pull off the upset.\n"It's totally an opportunity playing Illinois. We have nothing to lose on this one," IU coach Ken Hydinger said. "The finish is important because it is what the guys have worked for, and they want to have as good as season as possible."\n-- Contact staff writer Dan Click at daaclick@indiana.edu.