April 25, 2003
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Big Ten championship was not in the cards for the Purdue men's tennis team this year. The 46th-ranked Boilermakers bowed out of the 2003 conference tournament with a 4-3 loss to Michigan State in a quarterfinal match in Evanston, Ill., on Friday.
Purdue head coach Tim Madden credited the victorious Spartans.
"Michigan State played a great match," Madden said. "We expected to win, but we just didn't get it done."
The day began promising enough, with Purdue beating the fifth-seeded Spartans to the match's first point behind two doubles victories. Junior Seth McKinley and sophomore Sounak Chatterjee teamed up for an 8-3 win over Andrew Formanczyk and Chris Mitchell at No. 3, while senior Andrew Wakefield and freshman Paul Rose beat Cameron Marshall and Eric Simonton 8-5 at No. 2.
The Boilermakers felt confident heading into singles with a 1-0 lead. Twelve days ago, Purdue, after starting out with a 1-0 advantage, cruised to a 5-2 victory over the Spartans in West Lafayette.
Unfortunately for the Boilermakers, the rest of the match did not continue to unfold in a similar fashion. Three of Purdue's singles winners in the first meeting lost in the second go-round, including senior Scott Mayer.
Wakefield, however, came through with a quick 6-3, 6-0 victory against Mitchell at No. 2. Sophomore David Robinson delivered a 6-4, 6-2 win against Jimmy McGuire at No. 5.
Junior Troy Havens, McKinley and Rose all stretched their matches to three sets, but none could manage to pull out the decisive clinching victory.
Despite the loss, Madden praised Wakefield, who has won five singles matches in a row.
"I can't say enough about Andrew," Madden said. "He came ready and took care of business. He was very decisive in his play."
Madden also was proud of how the Boilermakers battled.
"The loss is very tough to swallow, but I am happy that we didn't lay down," Madden said. "Everyone of our guys fought to the end."
Purdue, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, dropped to 13-8 with the loss. The Boilermakers are hoping to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships. The 64-team bracket will be announced on Wednesday, April 30.
Michigan State, now 15-11 overall, will face Illinois in a semifinal on Saturday. The top-seeded and top-ranked Fighting Illini beat eighth-seeded Indiana 4-0 in a Friday quarterfinal.
The 2003 Big Ten Championships are being hosted by Northwestern at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center. Full results from the tournament can be found at www.nusports.com, or www.bigten.org.
Michigan State 4, #46 Purdue 3Doubles1. Havens/Mayer (P) vs. McGuire/Hourani (MS) abandoned2. Rose/Wakefield (P) def. Marshall/Simonton (MS) 8-53. McKinley/Sounak Chatterjee (P) def. Formanczyk/Mitchell (MS) 8-3Singles1. Andy Formanczyk (MS) def. Scott Mayer (P) 6-2, 6-32. Andrew Wakefield (P) def. Chris Mitchell (MS) 6-3, 6-03. Goran Topalo (MS) def. Troy Havens (P) 6-2, 5-7, 6-44. Cameron Marshall (MS) def. Paul Rose (P) 6-3, 1-6, 6-45. David Robinson (P) def. Jimmy McGuire (MS) 6-4, 6-26. Eric Simonton (MS) def. Seth McKinley (P) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3- P -