March 24, 2002
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's tennis team upset No. 32 Indiana State (6-7 overall) today, defeating the Sycamores 4-3 in dramatic style at the Lafayette Sports Center. The win brings the Boilermakers' record to 6-7 (1-1 Big Ten).
The Boilermakers secured the match's first point by winning all three doubles contests.
Junior Scott Mayer, who paired with senior Dan Swan for a win at No. 1 doubles, maintained success with a 6-4, 6-2 win over the Sycamores' Stefan Hirn at No. 1 singles.
With Purdue dropping the No. 2, 3, and 6 singles matches, the team match came down to junior Andrew Wakefield at No. 4 and sophomore Troy Havens at No. 5. Against David O'Connell, Havens lost the first set 3-6 before winning the last two 6-2, 6-4.
"It was two-all in the third set and everybody came to my court and I felt the pressure right then and there," Havens said. "I knew that I had to win, and I actually thought it came down to me even though I knew Andrew was still playing. But I just couldn't let myself get nervous."
In crunch time, Purdue's final hopes rested on Wakefield, who was playing Henry Choi at No. 4 singles. Wakefield lost the first set 4-6 before winning the second 6-3. Down a break late in the deciding set, Wakefield rallied for a 6-4 win to lift the Boilermakers to their sixth win this season.
"I was just tying to dictate all plays and he was getting tired," Wakefield said. "So I followed through towards the end and scored some big points to get the win."
"I lost a lot of matches last semester after having match point and lost in tie breakers in the third set. I think I've learned from those experiences. I played so much better this time under pressure."
In other doubles matches, Derek Miller and Wakefield defeated Choi and Dalibor Mihajlovic 8-6 at No. 2. Junior Carl McCafferty and sophomore Seth McKinley beat the Sycamores' Lovre Brajkovic and Vedran Vidovic 8-3 at No. 3.
Purdue hosts rival Indiana on March 28 at 1 p.m. The match will be played at the Varsity Tennis Courts or Lafayette Sports Center depending on weather conditions.
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