Feb. 7, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue University men's tennis team (3-0) on Saturday notched a 5-2 non-conference victory over No. 67 Western Michigan.
The Boilermakers got an early lead on the Broncos in doubles, winning two of the matches by scores of 9-8 at No. 1 and No. 3.
At No. 1 Senior Troy Havens and sophomore Paul Rose defeated Pathanjali and French and at No. 3 it was sophomore Colin Foster and Junior David Robinson who got the best of Dennis and Crosby. At No. 2 junior Sounak Chatterjee and freshman Filip Koziell defeated the Bronco dual of Dan Grupp and Jose Orozco 8-5.
This dominance continued into singles play, as the Boilermakers took four of the six singles matches. At No. 2 Havens defeated Dennis 7-6, 6-3. Freshman Jarred Leibner at No. 5 and Eric Hodgman at No. 6 posted three set victories that showed a lot of heart.
"Leibner and Hodgman pulled out three set victories over two Western Michigan seniors," Purdue head coach Tim Madden said. "I give them a lot of credit for pulling them out."
Despite the strong play of the freshman class the match of the day came at the hands of David Robinson. At No. 3, Robinson showed dominance, defeating Orozco 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
"Robinson not only took care of his side of the net but took his opponent apart by playing forward aggressive tennis," Madden said. "He was a very tough competitor and showed great leadership out there."
At No. 1, Rose lost to Pathanjali 6-3, 6-2 and at No. 4 Foster was defeated by Crosby 6-3, 6-3. The Boilermakers will continue their road trip Feb. 8, as they take on No. 49 Notre Dame at 1 p.m.
-P-