March 1, 2003
SEATTLE, Wash. - The Purdue men's tennis team made a strong statement today defeating No. 65 Oregon 5-2 at the Lloyd Nordstrom Tennis Center on the University of Washington campus. The victory, which resulted from Purdue's domination in singles play, brought the Boilermakers record to 5-2 overall.
In doubles action there was a new face in the lineup for the Boilermakers as junior Seth McKinley is out with a wrist injury. In his place sophomore Sounak Chatterjee stepped up playing at No. 3 doubles with freshman Colin Foster. The pair lost the point 8-2 to the Ducks duo of Bieri and Kost. At No. 1 senior Scott Mayer and freshman Paul Rose also fell losing to Oded Tieg and Sven Swinnen 8-5. At No. 2, junior Troy Havens and senior Andrew Wakefield provided the lone victory as they defeated Jason Menke and Aaron Spencer of Oregon 8-4.
Though the Boilermakers came up short in doubles action, Coach Tim Madden was incredibly pleased with the singles play as they won five of the six matches.
"It was a nice win because I believe this is the first match where all six singles players really believed in themselves and played with confidence from start to finish," Madden said.
The confidence the players showed might have been inspired by Paul Rose, who won his match at No. 4 despite an injury. His victory over Oregon's Bieri came in three sets 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. At No. 6 Colin Foster outmatched Aaron Spencer in three sets as well, 7-6, 3-6, 6-0, while at No. 5 sophomore David Robinson defeated Jason Menke in two 7-6, 6-1.
At the top spot Scott Mayer defeated Manuel Kost in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. While at No.3 Troy Havens overpowered Swinnen 7-6, 7-5 to give Purdue their fourth point and the victory.
"Troy Havens was the deciding match, Madden said. "Troy won the fourth point by playing with a lot of confidence."
The lone loss came at No. 2 where Andrew Wakefield fell 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 to Oded Tieg. Though he fell, Madden commended all the players on their solid performances on the court.
"In all of the singles matches they were mentally focused, playing with energy, and were able force their will on their opponents," Madden said. "It was a pretty decisive win in the end as we had a lot of guys who came up big. I am proud of these men."
The Boilermakers are set to play the University of Washington at noon Sunday. Madden is looking for the same players to step up big again on Sunday against the Huskies.
"We will have the same lineup tomorrow but against a better team, Madden said. "Washington is ranked in the top ten. Hopefully we can continue to play tough and bring some good news back to West Lafayette."
-P-