April 28, 2000
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 36-ranked Purdue men's tennis team dropped its quarterfinals match at the Big Ten Championships today to the No. 22 Michigan Wolverines, 4-2 at HPER Tennis Courts in Bloomington, Indiana. With the loss, the Boilers fall to 10-11 on the season, while the Wolverines improve to 15-6. The Boilermakers have now dropped two straight matches dating back to their 5-2 loss to Minnesota on April 22, while Michigan has won five consecutive Big Ten matches and six overall to close the year. The two teams, along with Ohio State, finished the regular season tied for fourth place in the conference with a 6-4 mark.
In doubles action, the No. 1 team of Jason Marshall and Andrew Wakefield picked up their 17th overall victory and seventh conference win, scoring an 8-3 triumph over the team of Matt Wright and Henry Beam. That would be the only victory for the Old Gold and Black in doubles action, giving the Maize & Blue a 1-0 lead heading into the singles portion of the match.
In singles action, the only Purdue winner was Wakefield at No. 4. The Edwalton, England, native defeated Dan McCain 6-3 3-3 retired to put the Boilers on the scoreboard and Wakefield picked up his 13th victory of the season in the process.
Back on April 8th, the Boilermakers pulled off a 4-3 victory over 20th-ranked Michigan in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines attributed the loss to the fact their star player, Matt Wright, was not in the lineup. Two-time All-Big Ten performer Wright, currently ranked No. 68, was in the line up today and posted an impressive 6-3, 6-1 victory over Purdue's top gun, also a two-time all-conference player, Jason Marshall, 6-3-6-1 at No. 1 singles. With the win at the top on the line up, Wright improves to 23-11 overall, while Marshall falls to 22-13. In his three years at Purdue, Marshall, a Dallas, Texas, native has posted a 79-38 overall record, 23-7 in the conference.
This was the 65th meeting between the two schools, with the Wolverines now holding a 57-8 series advantage. The Wolverines ended a five-match losing streak to Purdue last year, winning a 4-3 match in West Lafayette, Ind., during the regular season. Prior to the five-match winning streak, the Boilermakers had not beaten the Wolverines in 53 matches (since the 1938-39 season).
MICHIGAN 4, PURDUE 1
SINGLES1. Matt Wright (UM) dec. Jason Marshall (PU), 6-3, 6-12. Derek Miller (PU) vs. John Long (UM), Abd. 2-5, 2-43. Henry Beam (UM) def. Carl McCafferty (PU), 7-5, 6-24. Andrew Wakefield (PU) def. Dan McCain (UM), 6-3, 3-3 retired5. Ben Cox (UM) def. Scott Mayer (PU), 6-3, 7-56. Laith Al-Agba vs. Zach Held (UM), Abd. 6-1, 4-6
DOUBLES1. Marshall/Wakefield (PU) def. Wright/Beam (UM), 8-32. Long/Held (UM) def. McCafferty/Miller (PU), 8-43. McCain/Brad McFarland (UM) def. Al-Agba/Mayer (PU), 9-8 (6)