Sept. 18, 2005
Boilermaker Invitational Day 2 Results in PDF Format
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Four singles flights, four champions. Not bad for the Purdue men's tennis team, which thoroughly dominated its own Boilermaker Invitational at the Varsity Tennis Courts on Sept. 17 and 18.
Juniors Jarred Leibner (Gold), Eric Hodgman (Black), Matt Zollman (Silver), and freshman P.J. Rose (White) each won their respective flights Sunday, the second and final day of the four-team tournament. Leibner, Zollman and Nienberg defeated Purdue teammates in their final matches. Only Hodgman, who beat Chris Clark of Toledo 6-2, 7-6 (5), had the opportunity to play for a title against a non-Boilermaker opponent.
Purdue head coach Tim Madden thought his players made the most of being in the awkward position of having to play one another.
"Our guys competed well and made each other better. I give them credit for pushing one another," Madden said.
The winning continued in the fifth flight, a round-robin of three players, in which Purdue freshman Jose Fuenmayor won both his matches.
All told, Purdue singles players won 20 of 25 matches over the weekend. Three of the five losses came when Boilermakers went head-to-head in the finals.
Zollman, now in his second year in West Lafayette after transferring from Xavier, has two Boilermaker Invitational titles to his credit; he won the White Flight last fall as a Purdue sophomore.
Zollman said the key to winning was building confidence.
"I felt really comfortable out on the court and had a lot of confidence in my strokes," Zollman said.
Hodgman drew on the home-court advantage to help build his own confidence.
"It was really nice having our first tournament of the fall at home because we're comfortable here," Hodgman said.
Confidence is important for the Boilermakers, who struggled to a 3-17 record in the 2005 spring dual-match season.
"Last year we had a lot of struggles, so it is nice to get off to a good start," Hodgman said. "We worked hard all summer long and it's paying off."
Hodgman reaped the rewards of his hard work in doubles as well, as he and Rose teamed to win the Black Flight. The pair won one match Saturday and two matches Sunday, with its title victory coming by an 8-2 score over Evan West and Scott Newmark of Butler.
Madden's foremost concern from the weekend is doubles. The Boilermakers won only four doubles matches over the weekend.
"Doubles is the area where we need the most work right now," Madden said. "We showed signs of skills, but we need some development."
Purdue will return to action next weekend, when it competes at the Notre Dame Tom Fallon Invitational from Sept. 23 to 25.
Complete results from the 2005 Boilermaker Invitational are available by following the link at the top of this story.
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