April 22, 2011
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The No. 63 Purdue men's tennis team spoiled Alumni Weekend for the Penn State Nittany Lions as it won its first conference road match this season, 6-1, inside the Sarni Tennis Center.
"It was good to get the doubles point today," assistant coach Brandon Lenfert said. "We came out with energy and got the job done early. We need to build off that for Ohio State on Sunday and the Big Ten Tournament next week. The guys played in a really tough environment. There were only four courts and it was darker than we are accustomed to. It was difficult, but we battled in the tough environment on their alumni weekend in front of a lot of opposing fans. We kept our focus and poise and did a good job of getting the job done in singles and doubles. We are looking forward to a good match on Sunday."
Purdue (12-11, 3-6 Big Ten) clinched the doubles point by winning the first two matches. Aaron Dujovne and Mark Kovacs finished first with an 8-5 victory at No. 3 over Chris Hasyn and Bryan Welnetz. Next, Szymon Tatarczyk and Pawel Poziomski squeaked out an 8-6 win at No. 2 over Jason Lee and C.J. Griffin to secure the point. Russell Bader and Eddie Bourchier outlasted Krisztian Krocsko and Eric Ramos at No. 1, 9-8 (3).
Penn State (10-17, 0-9) struggled to get things going in singles. Kovacs extended the Boilermakers' lead to 2-0 after routing Lee at No. 2, 6-2, 6-2. Welnetz picked up the only point for the Nittany Lions with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Krocsko at No. 4.
Tatarczyk put together a nice come-from-behind triumph at No. 1 for Purdue. After dropping the first set, 1-6, he held on in the second, 7-6 (7) to force a third set. Again, Tatarczyk found himself trailing Bourchier, 3-2. However, he was able to mount a rally and roll off the final four games to win the set, 6-3. Ramos clinched the win for Purdue for the second straight time as he breezed through his match at No. 5 with a 6-4, 6-0 drubbing of Hasyn.
Dujovne extended the Boilermaker lead to 5-1 with an impressive 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 3 over Bader who had won his previous three singles matches. Poziomski rounded out the evening by cruising to a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 6 over Griffin.
Purdue will play its final match of the regular season on Sunday at No. 4 Ohio State. The Buckeyes (26-2, 9-0) handed Indiana its first conference loss on Friday afternoon with a 5-2 victory in Columbus. Purdue and Ohio State are slated to begin their match at noon from the Stickney Tennis Center.