March 23, 2003
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's tennis team dropped a 7-0 decision to No. 12 Minnesota at the Varsity Tennis Courts in West Lafayette on Sunday. The 49th-ranked Boilermakers are now 7-5 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten, while Minnesota improves to 11-3 overall and 2-1 in the conference.
Minnesota jumped on Purdue early, taking all three doubles matches from the Boilermakers.
Despite faltering in doubles, Purdue head coach Tim Madden was pleased by the fact that four of his players extended their singles matches to three sets.
"I wish I could tell you what happened in doubles today, but we simply were not there," Madden said. "I was not disappointed in the way we played singles. Four of our guys pushed Minnesota into three sets, and I think that makes the 7-0 score a bit misleading."
Madden was most pleased by the play of seniors Scott Mayer and Andrew Wakefield. At No. 1, Mayer was shut out in his first set against All-American Thomas Haug. Mayer then rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the second set to win a tiebreak and force the deciding set. At No. 2, Wakefield also fought from a set down against 56th-ranked Aleksey Zharinov before falling in three.
"I continue to be so proud of our seniors," Madden said. "Andrew has consistently been not only the toughest fighter on his court, but also the fiercest competitor on any team we have played. Scott was down a set and two breaks and he just would not quit."
Junior Troy Havens won his first set in a tiebreak before falling 6-7, 6-4, 7-5 to Chris Wettengel. Freshman Colin Foster stretched his No. 6 match to three sets, but lost 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 to Eric Robertson.
The Boilermakers will return to action on Saturday, March 29, when they play at No. 55 Indiana State. Purdue's next home match is scheduled for Sunday, March 30, when it plays host to Wisconsin at 11 a.m.
#12 Minnesota 7, #49 Purdue 0Doubles1. Haug/Lievano (M) def. Mayer/Havens (P) 8-52. Robertson/Ticer (M) def. Rose/Wakefield (P) 8-43. Wettengel/Zharinov (M) def. McKinley/Chatterjee (P) 8-2
Singles1. Thomas Haug (M) def. Scott Mayer (P) 6-0, 6-7, 6-22. Aleksey Zharinov (M) def. Andrew Wakefield (P) 6-4, 4-6, 6-33. Chris Wettengel (M) def. Troy Havens (P) 6-7, 6-4, 7-54. Manuel Lievano (M) def. Paul Rose (P) 6-2, 7-55. Avery Ticer (M) def. David Robinson (P) 6-2, 6-06. Eric Robertson (M) def. Colin Foster (P) 7-5, 1-6, 6-3
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