March 25, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 67 Purdue Boilermakers fell to the No. 18 Michigan Wolverines, 6-1, in Big Ten Conference play on Friday at the Schwartz Tennis Center.
"It was a tough loss today," Purdue head coach Pawel Gajdzik said. "We definitely had a lot of chances, but didn't convert. We just have to take advantage on big points in big moments, but we just didn't today. Give credit to Michigan because they did. We need to learn from this and move on because we have another important match on Sunday."
Michigan (9-5, 2-0 Big Ten) jumped ahead after doubles play by sweeping the point. Chris Madden and Barrett Franks were first to finish as the duo defeated Aaron Dujovne and Mark Kovacs, 8-3, at No. 3. Next, Jason Jung and Shaun Bernstein topped the tandem of Szymon Tatarczyk and Pawel Poziomski at No. 1, 8-3. In the No. 2 match, Purdue's Eric Ramos and Krisztian Krocsko led 5-2, but Evan King and Alex Buzzi won the final six games to give the Wolverines the 8-5 win.
Purdue (9-7, 0-2) watched its deficit grow to 0-2 after Jung, the 60th-ranked player individually, dominated the No. 2 match over Krockso, 6-1, 6-2. The Wolverines continued to build their lead as King, the 20th-best singles player, topped Tatarczyk at No. 1, 6-3, 6-2. Ramos put up a valiant comeback effort at No. 4, but Michigan was able to clinch the team match as Franks held on to win, 6-0, 4-6, 6-4.
Bernstein built the Wolverines' lead to 5-0 with a come-from-behind win at No. 3 over Kovacs, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. The Boilermakers were finally able to get on the scoreboard with a win at No. 5. After dropping the first set, Dujovne rallied to defeat Justin Rossi, 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-1). The Wolverines' Madden rounded out the afternoon as he held on to defeat Poziomski, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 1-0 (14-12).
The Boilermakers return to action on Sunday as they host the No. 44 Michigan State Spartans at noon ET. The match is also USTA Campus Kids Day. There will be a free youth tennis clinic after the contest ends as well as an autograph session with the Purdue players and coaches. Admission to this and all home tennis matches is free. Live stats can be found at purduesports.com. Live video streaming will be also be available if the match is held indoors.