WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's tennis team opened its 2015 campaign with a pair of wins on the Basham Courts of the Schwartz Tennis Center Monday. The Boilermakers disposed of Eastern Illinois and IUPUI, winning both duals by a score of 6-1. They controlled doubles, winning five of the six matches contested, and only dropped two singles contests.
"We are very rusty, but our team went out with grit and determination to win," head men's tennis coach Pawel Gajdzik said. "We have a very young bottom half of the lineup, but they were determined today."
The No. 2 doubles team of Arthur Dobradin and Renan Hanayama clinched the point for Purdue in the first match of the day against Eastern Illinois, disposing of Rui Silva and Ryan Henderson, 6-2. Ricky Medinilla and Diego Acosta set the stage with a 6-3 win over Robert Skolik and Preston Touliatos at No. 1.
The Boilermakers swept Nos. 1-5 singles, four of which were in straight sets, with Dobradin once again coming through and securing the first dual victory of the season for his team. For a second time, the redshirt sophomore cruised past Silva, this time in the No. 5 spot, 6-3, 6-1.
In his dual debut for Purdue, Hanayama dropped the opening set to Henderson, 6-4, but rebounded in the second set, 6-2, to force the breaker. The rookie won the best to 10 set, 10-6, to take the match and earn a point for the Boilermakers while playing at No. 4.
Medinilla and Acosta earned their first shutout of the season, blanking IUPUI's No. 1 doubles teams of Thomas Gans and Patrick O'Neill, 6-0, to get the Old Gold & Black rolling in the second dual of the day. Lucas Dages and Mateus Silva locked in the doubles point for Purdue while playing in the No. 3 position, beating Manuel Laboy and Jac Newis, 6-2.
The train didn't stop as the dual shifted to singles. Purdue won the first four singles matches to easily take the overall victory. Acosta, Silva, Hanayama and Dobradin all won in straight sets to finish their opening day at 2-0 each. Medinilla, who is ranked 84th nationally in singles, closed out the dual by grinding out a three-setter against Jac Newis, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, to also finish the day 2-0 in singles.
"The first match is always tough and we are rusty since we haven't played for a while," Medinilla said. "We got the two wins, so that is good. We're looking forward to next weekend and playing in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Columbus."
The Boilermakers will travel to Columbus, Ohio, to take part in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend hosted by fifth-ranked Ohio State Jan. 24-25. The site, one of 15 four-team sites across the country, also features No. 42 Auburn and No. 40 Tulsa.
The top-seeded Buckeyes will take on the fourth-seeded Auburn Saturday at 10 a.m. ET, followed by the third-seeded Boilermakers against the second-seeded Golden Hurricane at 2 p.m. Winners of the two matches face off Sunday at 1 p.m., for a berth to the 2015 ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The losers will play at 10 a.m.
No. 48 PURDUE 6, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
Doubles
No. 1: Ricky Medinilla/Diego Acosta (Purdue) def. Robert Skolik/Preston Touliatos (Eastern Illinois), 6-3
No. 2: Arthur Dobradin/Renan Hanayama (Purdue) def. Rui Silva/Ryan Henderson (Eastern Illinois), 6-2
No. 3: Mateus Silva/Lucas Dages (Purdue) def. Trent Reiman/Grant Reiman (Eastern Illinois), 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
No. 1: No. 84 Ricky Medinilla (Purdue) def. Grant Thompson (Eastern Illinois), 6-2, 6-3
No. 2: Diego Acosta (Purdue) def. Preston Touliatos (Eastern Illinois), 7-6 (3), 6-2
No. 3: Mateus Silva (Purdue) def. Robert Skolik (Eastern Illinois), 6-2, 6-3
No. 4: Renan Hanayama (Purdue) def. Ryan Henderson (Eastern Illinois), 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (6)
No. 5: Arthur Dobradin (Purdue) def. Rui Silva (Eastern Illinois), 6-3, 6-1
No. 6: Grant Reiman (Eastern Illinois) def. Matt Bouggy (Purdue), 6-1, 6-2
Order of finish: 6, 3, 1, 5, 2, 4
No. 48 PURDUE 6, IUPUI 1
Doubles
No. 1: Ricky Medinilla/Diego Acosta (Purdue) def. Thomas Gans/Patrick O'Neill (IUPUI), 6-0
No. 2: Jose Calero/David Beasley (IUPUI) def. Arthur Dobradin/Renan Hanayama (Purdue), 6-4
No. 3: Mateus Silva/Lucas Dages (Purdue) def. Manuel Laboy/Jac Newis (IUPUI), 6-2
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
No. 1: No. 84 Ricky Medinilla (Purdue) def. Jac Newis (IUPUI), 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
No. 2: Diego Acosta (Purdue) def. Thomas Gans (IUPUI), 6-1, 6-2
No. 3: Mateus Silva (Purdue) def. Jose Calero (IUPUI), 6-1, 6-2
No. 4: Renan Hanayama (Purdue) def. Thomas Hulme (IUPUI), 6-2, 6-4
No. 5: Marcus Nalley (IUPUI) def. Lucas Dages (Purdue), 7-5, 6-1
No. 6: Arthur Dobradin (Purdue) def. Patrick O'Neill (IUPUI), 6-4, 6-1
Order of finish: 2, 4, 6, 3, 5, 1