No. 58 Hoosier men look to upend No. 13 Notre Dame

There is a lot at stake for the men's tennis team this afternoon as they hit the road for the first time this season. With a win today against No. 13 Notre Dame, the Hoosiers would boost their chances for postseason play.\n"If we win this match, we're in the driver's seat for going to the NCAAs," IU coach Ken Hydinger said.\nWinning the match will be no simple task. The Irish return their top five players from last season, including seniors Stephen Bass and Ryan Keckley, as well as junior Sheeva Parbhu. Bass and Parbhu are ranked No. 14 and No. 30 nationally in Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings. Parbhu teams with Keckley to make up the No. 11 doubles tandem in the country. \nIU senior David Bubenicek, ranked No. 48, said he is a little nervous for his match with Bass, but knows it will be a "good challenge" and is looking forward to it. \n"He's very good," Bubenicek said. "We have kind of similar styles so it's going to be (a) very good match and I hope I'll be the one on top at the end. I am definitely positive I can beat him."\nLast year's win by Notre Dame was its third straight against IU and its 12th in the last 15 seasons. While the score was 6-1, Hydinger's team put up a fight, taking No. 2 doubles and No. 3 singles, while keeping four of the other five singles matches close. Junior Dara McLoughlin, then a sophomore, won the lone singles match by defeating Notre Dame's Brett Helgeson, ranked No. 60 at the time. \n"It was just when I was turning things around in the season," McLoughlin said. "I went to Illinois and Purdue the weekend before and I had a pretty good win at No. 3 against Purdue, so I had some confidence going through the (Notre Dame) match and I kind of used that and I pulled (the match) out."\nDespite Notre Dame's talent and recent dominance of the Hoosiers, Hydinger is not ready to hand the match over to the Irish.\n"Notre Dame's higher in the rankings," he said. "But you don't play to see who's better, you play to see who wins"