Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Face Tough Test In 6th-Ranked Illinois
3/22/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Hoosiers Face Tough Test In 6th-Ranked Illinois
ON TAP...The Hoosiers (9-3, 1-1) will return to Big Ten action
with a home match against 6th-ranked Illinois on Saturday at
12:00 p.m. Last year, the Hoosiers lost a 5-2 to the Illini in
Champaign, Illinois. Indiana holds the all-time series lead with
a 43-25 record.
SCOUTING ILLINOIS...The 5th-ranked Illini come into the match
this weekend with a 9-3 record, while going 1-0 in the Big Ten.
Last weekend, the Illini took a share of the Blue-Gray championship
with Fresno State. To reach the finals, Illinois defeated UNLV
4-2 and Southern Methodist 5-2. It is currently 4-3 against teams
in the top 20 in the nation. The Illini are led by senior Cary
Franklin who is currently ranked 13th in the ITA rankings and
the doubles team of senior Jeff Laski and sophomore Jamal Parker
, who are ranked 12th in the ITA rankings.
SUCCESSFUL ROAD TRIP...The Hoosiers spent spring break with three
away matches. The opened with a close loss to 23rd-ranked Kentucky
5-2. After that loss, the Hoosiers rebounded to win the following
two matches. Indiana defeated 24th-ranked Harvard 5-2 in Lexington,
Kentucky before travelling to Nashville, Tennessee to pick up
a win against Vanderbilt 5-2.
IN THE RANKINGS...In the current ITA Rankings the Hoosiers move
down seven spots to be ranked 35th in the nation. In Region IV,
the Hoosiers are ranked 5th. Milan Rakvica is currently ranked
24th in the Region in singles. In doubles the team of Rakvica
and Rahman Smiley dropped three spots to 44th in the country
and 11th in the Region. Ian Arons and Gabriel Montilla entered
the rankings for the first time this year at 47th.
AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS...The men's tennis team is currently
3-3 against teams ranked in the top 75. The Hoosiers have picked
up wins against #22 Notre Dame, #24 Harvard and #43 Ball State.
Indiana has lost matches to SENIORS LEADING THE WAY...Montilla,
have shown senior leadership during the first twelve dual matches
of the season. Montilla has played well at the No. 3 position
posting a 9-3 record. He has also been solid in doubles, going
8-4 at the No. 1 position with junior Ian Arons. McGill missed
the opening match, but now is the No. 4 player with an 8-2 record.
JUNIOR PLAY...The Hoosiers have three juniors in the starting
singles lineup and all have played well lately. Paul Jacobson
has been solid all season long at the No. 5 position. He is currently
on a four match-winning streak and has gone 8-2 in dual matches.
Milan Rakvica bounced back from some tough losses this season
with two big wins over Joe Green of Harvard and 29th-ranked Andrew
Nisker of Vanderbilt. Ian Arons has also came on as of late at
the No. 2 position. He is currently 6-5 on the dual match season
and has won two straight matches.
REACHING MILESTONES...Jacobson reached his 60th career singles
victory...Rakvica reached his 50th career singles victory...Sophomore
Rahman Smiley reached 30 career wins in both singles and doubles.
HYDINGER WINS 300TH...with the Hoosiers win over Notre Dame,
head coach Ken Hydinger picked up his 300th career victory. Hydinger
is currently in his 16th season as the Head Coach of the men's
tennis team. He has a overall record of 242-161-1, while going
104-81 in the Big Ten. Coach Hydinger has been a coach at the
collegiate level for 21 years, coaching at Southwest Missouri
State and Mississippi State before coming to Indiana. In his
20 years of coaching he has a record of 308-206-1.
ACCESSING IU SPORTS...All information about Indiana Men's Tennis
can be accessed on the web. Just go to http://www.athletics.indiana.edu
and click on Men's Tennis.
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