April 22, 2002
April 21, 2002
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's tennis team beat the No. 37 Michigan 5-2 today, proving its strength as a national-level competitor. The Boilermakers closed out their 2002 regular season this weekend with Big Ten wins against Michigan State on April 20 at the Varsity Tennis Courts and at the Lafayette Sports Center this afternoon against the Wolverines. The indoor match today brought Purdue's overall record to 11-10 and improved its conference to 6-4.
Coach Tim Madden was ecstatic that Purdue was able to finish its season on a good note.
"This has been such a delightful year in terms of having average talent but great competitiveness," Madden said. "When we started this year we were struggling. Now we're 9-1 at home and we're getting big wins that hopefully will get us into the NCAA Championships."
With three Purdue seniors playing on each doubles court, the Boilermakers used their expertise and won the No. 1, 2 and 3 spots to take a 1-0 team lead heading into singles. At No. 1, senior Dan Swan and junior Scott Mayer defeated Chris Shaya and Brett Baudinet 8-5, while senior Laith Al-Agba and junior Carl McCafferty beat Henry Beam and Matt Lockin 8-3 at No. 2. Senior Derek Miller and junior Andrew Wakefield culminated the doubles portion by giving the Boilermakers a third win. The Purdue duo defeated Matt Jackson and Greg Novak 8-3 at No. 3.
With a fast-paced doubles match concluding in only 45 minutes, Madden applauded Purdue for playing at a high level of energy.
"We got on top of (Michigan) right away with our doubles," Madden said. "We were feeling real good, there was a lot of energy and excitement. This is one of the quickest and most decisive doubles matches we've played."
Purdue took its strong doubles play into singles and claimed the team victory with four individual wins. At No. 3, McCafferty defeated Matt Lockin 6-4, 6-2, while junior Andrew Wakefield beat Anthony Jackson 6-3, 6-2 at No. 4. With only one match to win out of the remaining four, sophomore Troy Havens clinched the match to secure the Boilermaker victory. Havens beat Josef Fisher 6-4, 7-6 at No. 6.
Al-Agba wasn't able to finish off his No. 5 match, as Novak defeated him 6-4, 6-3 for the Wolverines' first point of the afternoon.
Although Al-Agba's matchup was a difficult one, Madden was proud that he finished the match strong.
"The style that Novak plays was just difficult for Laith, but he held it together right at the end," Madden said. "The most important thing is how you finish the match. I guarantee that he helped Troy Havens, who was playing in a tie-breaker right next to him, by helping him stay mentally strong."
At No. 2, Miller closed the match and gave Purdue its last point of the afternoon with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over Ben Cox.
With the regular season in the record books, Madden believes this has been one of the most gratifying campaigns in his eight years as Purdue's head coach.
"This has been one of the most rewarding seasons for me as a coach because the players have grown so much," Madden said. "One of the most important goals of this year was to finish the season stronger than we began, and I'm proud to say we've done that. I give them credit for staying in the fight."
Purdue most likely will head into the Big Ten Championships next weekend at the No. 5 seed. Depending on Northwestern's performance against Penn State on April 21, the Boilermakers could move to the No. 4 seed if the Wildcats lose against the Nittany Lions.
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DoublesNo. 1 Mayer/Dan Swan (P) def. Chris Shaya/Brett Baudinet (M) 8-5No. 2 Al-Agba/McCafferty (P) def. Beam/Lockin (M) 8-3No. 3 Miller/Seth McKinley (P) def. Jackson/Novak (M) 8-3
SinglesNo. 1 #61 Henry Beam (M) def. Scott Mayer (P), 7-6, 6-2No. 2 Derek Miller (P) def. Ben Cox (M), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5No. 3 Carl McCafferty (P) def. Matt Lockin (M), 6-4, 6-2No. 4 Andrew Wakefield (P) def. Anthony Jackson (M), 6-3, 6-2No. 5 Greg Novak (U) def. Laith Al-Agba (P), 6-4, 6-3No. 6 Troy Havens (P) def. Josef Fischer (M), 6-4, 7-6