University Park, Pa. - The Purdue men's tennis team is away this weekend with matches at Penn State and at Ohio State. The Boilermakers will first take on the Nittany Lions at 5 p.m. ET on Friday at the Sarni Tennis Center and then the Buckeyes on their journey home Sunday. First serve at the Ohio State University Varsity Tennis Center is scheduled for noon.
Friday's match will be the team's first true road test in more than a month. Purdue visited No. 37 Indiana on March 5 before competing in five-straight neutral-site matches split between in Chicago and Indian Wells, California.
While the Boilermakers went 3-2 in those matches, they are still searching for a road win, losing at No. 5 Georgia, Louisville, No. 13 Baylor, No. 11 Texas and the 4-3 decision against the Hoosiers. Purdue's best chance at securing a win is on Friday as Penn State's lineup only features one ranked doubles team, No. 66 Constant De La Bassetiere and Christian Lakoselijac.
The Buckeyes, however, are not only pegged as the No. 2 team in the nation, their lineup also features the No. 1 singles player in Mikael Torpegaard and three additional ranked athletes. Purdue boasts the No. 16 doubles team in Gergely Madarasz and Ricky Medinilla, but Ohio State enters with two top-50 tandems of its own. Madarasz will compete in the first or second position as the No. 96 singles player.
Historically, the men's team has also fared better against the Nittany Lions; the two programs stand even with 16 wins apiece -- Purdue securing four of the last six. Conversely, the Boilermaker's most recent victory over the Buckeyes came in 1999, the last of a five-match run for Purdue.