Oct. 13, 2002
Day Two Results in PDF Format
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue freshman tennis player Colin Foster celebrated 18th birthday in style, winning his B flight in the Boilermaker Invitational on Sunday.
A native of Western Springs, Ill., Foster finished the two-day tournament with a spotless 3-0 singles record, and also went 2-0 in doubles. His singles title came by way of a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Jose Orozco of Western Michigan.
After not getting his desired results in Purdue's first two fall tournaments, Foster was pleased with his success on the Varsity Courts.
"I had a good weekend," Foster said. "I competed a lot better than I have been lately. Even when everything wasn't clicking, I still was able to scrap and get some wins by fighting harder."
Sophomore David Robinson also enjoyed an outstanding weekend, claiming the second B flight title with three straight wins. He beat Western Michigan's Mike Findling 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 for the championship.
Foster's two doubles wins came with junior partner Seth McKinley, while Robinson went 2-1 with sophomore partner Sounak Chatterjee.
The Boilermakers won eight of nine doubles matches overall.
In other singles action, senior Carl McCafferty placed third in the first A flight with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Indiana State's David O'Connell. Senior Andrew Wakefield finished fifth in the same flight with a 6-1, 6-0 decision against Butler's Mike Weaver.
McKinley picked up a seventh-place finish in the second A flight after his Iowa opponent, Tres Jones, retired after trailing 6-0, 1-0.
Freshman Paul Rose placed third in the first B flight, beating Iowa's Chaitu Malempati 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Purdue head coach Tim Madden said mental toughness was a key to the Boilermakers rebounding from a disappointing first day.
"Yesterday we had mixed results, so we talked about the need to be mentally tough and refusing mediocrity," Madden said. "Today we understood that we needed to prove something. We played much tougher, and that showed in our results."
Madden praised Foster and Robinson, in particular.
"Colin has taken advantage of all his competitive experiences this fall," Madden said. "He has caught our attention.
"David became a tougher competitor this weekend. He was down in every match, but he battled back and won. He refused to lose."
Purdue will have two weeks to prepare for the ITA/Omni Regionals, hosted by Wisconsin from Oct. 26 to 29. The Boilermakers' final fall tournament will be the Big Ten Singles Championships, hosted by Minnesota from Nov. 16 to 18.
Full results from the Boilermaker Invitational can be found on www.purduesports.com.
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