April 5, 1999
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The 47th-ranked Purdue men's team dropped a heartbreaker to its in-state rival Notre Dame Fighting Irish 4-3 at the Varsity Courts on Monday afternoon. With the loss, Purdue falls to 12-3 overall, while Notre Dame improves to 12-7. The 26th-ranked Irish have now won nine straight over the Old Gold and Black dating back to the 1988-89 season.
"This is as tough as it gets," Purdue coach Tim Madden said. "It doesn't get any tougher. I am proud of my team. They are a class act and they stayed composed the entire match, even when things started getting a little heated."
The Boilers got things going early taking the doubles point on the heals of wins at the No. 2 and 3 slots to take a 1-0 lead heading into the singles competition. At No. 2 doubles, the team of senior Jamie Gordon and sophomore Dan Swan got back on the winning track, as they disposed of ND's team of Javier Taburga and Trent Miller by a score of 8-3. With the win, the duo of Gordon/Swan are now 11-3 on the season. Miller, a junior from San Diego, Calif., is the older brother of Purdue's freshman Derek Miller, the No. 6 singles player. In the No. 3 doubles slot, the team of sophomore Jason Marshall and senior Cris James paired up to defeat Casey Smith and Matt Daly by a score of 8-1.
"The game of tennis, as in any sport, is a game of momentum," Madden said. "When you can come out and play hard and take the doubles point you have set yourself up very nicely. Today we did just that, but Notre Dame's experience of playing the big matches paid off for them in the end."
In singles action, all but one went the full three sets with the Boilermakers claiming the win at the No. 4 and 5 spots. At the top of the lineup, Notre Dame's Ryan Sachire, the No. 2 player in the country by the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, fought off Purdue senior Derek Myers in a classic battle 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 to pick up his 32nd victory of the season. Down one set and facing the serve of Sachire with the score 4-2 in ND favor, Myers responded like a true champion, breaking his serve and winning the second set in a tiebreaker to force a third set. In the third set, the bigger and stronger Sachire had more left in the tank and came out with the win.
The first of the Boilers two singles wins came at the No. 4 spot as Cris James defeated Andrew Laflin 6-3, 6-4 to earn his 14th victory of the season. At the No. 5 singles slot, junior Cade Lutz withstood a late rally by Casey Smith to win by a score of 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to pick up his 17th win.
With all the other matches over and the score tied at 3-3, the match was to be decided at No. 6 singles. ND's Andy Warford prevailed in a tiebreaker over Purdue's Miller to secure the win by a tally of 6-1, 5-7, 7-6.
"We left our hearts out on the court today," Madden said. "We have nothing to hang our heads about."
The Boilermakers will take to the court next this coming weekend, as they host Michigan State on Saturday April 10 and Michigan on Sunday April 11. Both matches will be played the varsity courts and are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
NOTRE DAME 4, PURDUE 3
SINGLES
No. 1 Ryan Sachire (ND) d. Derek Myers (PU) 6-2, 6-7, 6-4No. 2 Brian Patterson (ND) d. Jamie Gordon (PU) 6-2, 5-7, 6-3No. 3 Matt Daly (ND) d. Jason Marshall (PU) 7-6, 4-6, 6-1No. 4 Cris James (PU) d. Andrew Laflin (ND) 6-3, 6-4No. 5 Cade Lutz (PU) d. Casey Smith (ND) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5No. 6 Andy Warford (ND) d. Derek Miller (PU) 6-1, 5-7, 7-6
DOUBLES
No. 1 Sachire/Patterson (ND) d. Myers/Al-Agba (PU) 8-6No. 2 Gordon/Swan (PU) d. Taburga/Miller (ND) 8-3No. 3 James/Marshall (PU) d. Smith/Daly (ND) 8-1