Feb. 17, 2002
South Bend, Ind. - The Purdue men's tennis team were hit with a 7-0 loss today against No. 7 Notre Dame. The Boilermakers, now 2-3 on the season, felt the wrath of the Fighting Irish by losing its doubles and singles points.
Although the Boilermakers fell to one of the top 10 teams in the country, Purdue coach Tim Madden was pleased that his team was getting in the fight and progressing.
"The best thing about today was that we continued to improve our competitive level," Madden said. "Our whole team is really getting better at creating big point opportunities, and looking for ways to win and being true competitors."
At No. 1 singles, junior Scott Mayer dropped his three sets to the Broncos' Ravishankar Rathanjali and lost 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. Mayer and senior Dan Swan lost 8-4 at No. 1 doubles to Notre Dame's Javier Taborga and Casey Smith.
At No. 2 doubles, senior Laith Al-Agba and junior Carl McCafferty lost at No. 2 doubles (8-6), while Aaron Talarico and Brent D'Amico of Notre Dame defeated freshman Sounak Chatterjee and junior Andrew Wakefield 8-3 at No. 3 doubles.
"I am pleased that we are getting in the fight and progressing," Madden says. "So hopefully this will payoff through out the season."
In other action, Wakefield fell 7-6, 6-2 to Notre Dame's Casey Smith at No. 2 singles. Aaron Talarico defeated Purdue's Havens 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3 singles, while Luis Haddock of Notre Dame defeated Al-Agba 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 at No. 4 singles.
"Laith was very positive and created opportunities," Madden says. "Although it's a little difficult when you play a team that is one of the top ten teams in the country, Laith and his teammates in one through six singles are finally doing it together."
At No. 5 singles, Chatterjee lost 6-4, 6-3 to Matthew Scott, and sophomore Seth McKinley fell 6-0, 6-4 to Andrew Laflin of Notre Dame.
The Boilermakers (2-3, 0-1 Big Ten), will resume action next weekend on Feb. 23 at Harvard and Feb. 24 at Brown.
- P -