April 6, 2003
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The 25th-ranked Ohio State Buckeye men's tennis team proved to be too much for the Boilermakers handing them a 5-2 defeat as well as their second Big Ten loss of the season. The loss dropped 50th-ranked Purdue's record to 10-6 overall and 4-2 in the conference.
Purdue got off to a good start by taking two of the three doubles matches to obtain the point. Senior Andrew Wakefield and junior Troy Havens defeated Conor Casey and Ross Wilson 8-5 at No. 2. Junior Seth Mckinley and sophomore Sounak Chatterjee teamed up for a 9-7 victory over Philip Metz and Brenton Contini to secure the doubles point at No. 3. This point provided the Boilermakers with the momentum going into the singles.
Though the Boilermakers were up a point at the start of the singles the strength of Ohio State proved too great as they recorded wins in 5 out of the 6 matches. Troy Havens logged the lone victory at No. 3 defeating Conor Casey 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Ohio State (15-5, 5-1 Big Ten) ran away with the win as their five singles victories all came in two sets. Two of these attributed to the play of some of the NCAA's finest. 18th ranked Jeremy Wurtzman defeated Scott Mayer 6-4, 7-5 at No. 1 and 47th ranked Vince Ng downed Andrew Wakefield 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2.
The Buckeyes sealed their victory when Ross Wilson overtook Seth McKinley 6-3, 6-3 at No. 5. Closing out the match Paul Rose was defeated at No. 4 by Phillip Metz 6-4, 6-4 and freshman Colin Foster was ousted by Dennis Mertens 6-1, 6-4 at No. 6.
Despite the loss Purdue head coach Tim Madden expresses a sense of advancement over the weekend.
"I think we are better team through this weekend," Madden said. "We challenged a talented Ohio State team that is stronger than we are."
The Boilermakers hope to continue their improvement into the remainder of the Big Ten Season and into the Big Ten tournament.
Next up for Purdue is Michigan on Saturday and Michigan State on Sunday at the Varsity Tennis Courts in West Lafayette. Both matches will begin at noon.
Ohio State 5, Purdue 2Doubles1. Casey/Wilson (OSU) def. Havens/Mayer (PU) 8-62. Wakefield/Rose (PU) def. Wurtzman/Green (OSU) 8-53. McKinley/Chatterjee (PU) def. Metz/Contini (OSU) 9-7
Singles1. Jeremy Wurtman (OSU) def. Scott Mayer (P) 6-4, 7-52. Vince Ng (OSU) def. Andrew Wakefield (P) 6-3, 6-13. Troy Havens (P) def. Conor Casey (OSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-44. Phil Metz (OSU) def. Paul Rose (P) 6-4, 6-45. Ross Wilson (OSU) def. Seth McKinley (P) 6-3, 6-36. Dennis Mertens (OSU) def. Colin Foster (P) 6-1, 6-4