Purdue Hosts Top-Ranked Ohio State in Big Ten Home Opener

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue hosts No. 1 Ohio State and Penn State this Friday and Sunday to open up the second week of Big Ten play.

The Boilermakers enter the weekend following a 2-4 loss at No. 52 Indiana in its Big Ten opener. The Boiler's two points came from freshmen Henrik Villanger and Juan David Velasquez at singles No. 4 and 5. Both players picked up their first career wins against conference opponents.

Villanger has won four of his last five matches and is slowly climbing the singles lineup. He made his debut at No. 4 this past weekend. Velasquez snapped a two-match skid and picked up his first career win at singles No. 5 against the Hoosiers.

Soham Purohit's six-match win streak remains intact as his battle with Indiana's Facundo Yunis went unfinished in the third set. 

With this weekend's matchup against No. 1 Ohio State, Purdue's young roster will be exposed to some of the nation's top talent. Up to this point, The Boilermakers are a combined 1-9 against ranked singles opponents and 1-3 against ranked doubles teams. Stefan Simeunovic has seen the most action against ranked foes this spring. Since taking over the role of Purdue's No. 1 singles position, he has played back-to-back players in the Top 112.

MATCH INFORMATION:
Purdue (5-9, 0-1) vs. No. 1 Ohio State (20-1, 2-0)
Friday, March 29 | 4 PM
Schwartz Tennis Center

Purdue (5-9, 0-1) vs. Penn State (4-13, 0-2)
Sunday, March 31 | Noon
Schwartz Tennis Center

SCOUTING No. 1 OHIO STATE:
The nation's No. 1 team comes to West Lafayette with a 20-1 record including conference wins over Northwestern, Michigan and No. 15 Illinois twice. The Buckeyes are 12-0 against ranked opponents this season. 

Ohio State accounted for eight total rankings in ITA's most recent release. Five Buckeyes are ranked in the singles Top 100 including No. 12 JJ Tracy, No. 19 Jack Anthrop, No. 22 Cannon Kingsley, No. 25 Justin Boulais and No. 99 Alexander Bernard. 

Three of Ohio State's doubles teams fall into the Top 50 with JJ Tracy being a member of two of those teams. No. 5 JJ Tracy/Robert Cash, No. 42 JJ Tracy/Alexander Bernard and No. 47 Justin Boulais and Andrew Lutschaunig.

Purdue is 18-79-2 all-time against the Buckeyes. The last time Purdue defeated an Ohio State team was a 4-3 win in Columbus on March 28, 1999. The Boilers last home victory against the Buckeyes was a 7-0 sweep on April 11, 1998. 

SCOUTING PENN STATE:
Penn State comes to West Lafayette on a 10-match losing streak. The Nittany Lions started the season 4-3 before its current skid. Before Sunday's match, the Lions will take on No. 61 Indiana in Bloomington on Friday.

Penn State opened up Big Ten play with a pair of losses to No. 15 Illinois and No. 60 Northwestern. The Nittany Lions have been outscored 3-10 in conference matches this spring. 

Miko Eala earned his first career Big Ten Player of the Week honor on Wednesday. Eala went 3-0 last week securing points in both conference matches. The highlight of his weekend was an upset over No. 31 Karlis Ozolins of Illinois in straight sets. The 2023 2nd-team All-Big Ten player is the first Penn State player to receive the honor since April 20, 2021 (Christian Lakoseljac).

Purdue is 16-22 all-time against Penn State. The Boilers' last win was a 5-2 victory in College Park on April 7, 2017. Purdue's last win in West Lafayette came in April 2014 in a 6-1 decision.

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