Feb. 12, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's tennis team did not drop a set in the night cap of Saturday's doubleheader on the way to its first shutout win of the season, downing Eastern Illinois 7-0 at the Schwartz Tennis Center.
"We played much better today and were able to sweep doubles," head coach Pawel Gajdzik said. "Our guys were much more concise which was a good sign. We stepped up on the single courts and pretty much dominated all through the six matches. It's a good sign, but we still have a lot of work to do. We have a couple of weeks to get some stuff done and get ready for some big matches in March."
Purdue (4-2) gained early momentum in doubles play as senior Eric Ramos and freshman Mark Kovacs made quick work of their match, winning 8-1 over Warren Race and Kevin Bauman at No. 3. Sophomore Pawel Poziomski and freshman Aaron Dujovne secured the first point of the evening after knocking off Michael Sperry and Charlie Dryden, 8-5, at No. 2. The Boilermakers captured the doubles sweep for the second time in as many matches on Saturday when sophomore Krisztian Krocsko and freshman Szymon Tatarczyk knocked off Matyas Hilgert and Jamie Firth at No. 1. The three doubles wins marked the third time this season that the Old Gold and Black were able to sweep the point.
The Boilermakers continued their dominant play in singles action. Junior Jan-Frans Engelbrecht put together a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Vance Davis at the No. 6 position. Purdue built its lead to 3-0 with a win from Ramos at No. 4. After trailing three games to two in the first set, the Alameda, Calif., native won his last 10 games to clinch a 6-3, 6-0 thrashing of Dryden.
"It was a big step forward for me today," Engelbrecht said. "I am usually defensive at the start of the match, but today I hit a lot of my shots at the beginning. That really made it easy in the second set for me and that was good. I thought the energy was good especially in the second match. A lot of people came out to watch us and we really appreciate and can use the support."
Tatarczyk secured the team's fourth point and victory with a 6-1, 6-2 pummeling of Race at No. 2. Eastern Illinois (1-3) made it interesting at No. 3 as Hilgert tried to claw back from a 6-0 first set loss to Kovacs. However, the Boilermaker freshman was able to outlast the Panther's junior and take the second set, 7-6 (3).
"The first set, I played well because I carried momentum over from doubles," Kovacs said. "I felt good that after winning the first set 6-0. I felt that I was finally playing well. It was a good improvement from this morning when I lost, so I was happy with the outcome. I definitely can still have a lot of room for improvement and look forward to the next couple weeks."
Dujovne was next to turn in a dominant performance with a 6-2, 6-1 beating of Bauman at No. 5 to keep his record unblemished at 6-0 for the season. Krocsko rounded out the evening with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Sperry at No.1 to give the Boilermakers the 7-0 shutout victory.
The Boilermakers have a week off before they return to action Saturday, Feb. 26 to host a doubleheader which starts against Eastern Kentucky at 11 a.m. ET and concludes with UW-Green Bay at 5 p.m.