Jan. 28, 2007
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's tennis team (1-0) handed Butler a 6-1 defeat Sunday afternoon at the Schwartz Tennis Center. The win was the Boilermakers' first of the season, while the Bulldogs (1-4) dropped their fourth-consecutive decision to a Big Ten opponent.
Despite the convincing victory, head coach Tim Madden was less than enthusiastic about the results.
"It'a win, but it didn't feel right. I felt we were flat in doubles and we set the wrong tone. I really have no explanation, because we worked hard in practice all week and were focused."
Seniors Scott Warner and Eric Hodgman raised their spring records to 4-0 with a pair of straight set victories. Warner beat Chris Peric, 6-3, 6-3 and Hodgman defeated Eric Breitenbach, 6-1, 6-3.
The Boilermakers' clinched the match with freshman Branko Kuzmanovic's first win of the season, a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Evan West.
Kurt Zaske had one of the gutsiest performances of anyone on the court today, coming back twice to beat Ben Raynauld. Down 4-1 in the first set, Zaske rallied back to force a tiebreaker, winning 7-1, but lost the second set 6-4.
With the game already settled, Zaske and Raynauld played a super tiebreak in place of a third set. Zaske found himself down quickly 5-1, but won nine of the next 10 points to win 7-6 (1), 4-6, 10-6.
Madden sees improvements in Zaske's game from last year, but says his sophomore still needs to settle down quicker.
"Kurt possesses a great deal of athleticism and explosive skills, but his challenge is wanting it all to come too quickly. Last year, in these types of situations he would stress out and lose. Today, he was down, down and down again but came back to win two tiebreakers - it's definitely progress."
In No. 5 singles, Paul Foley rebounded to beat Sandy Berry, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 to improve to 3-1 on the spring.
Purdue's lone singles loss was claimed by senior Paul Rose, falling to James Low at the No. 1 spot, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.
The Boilermakers won the doubles point with victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. Rose and Zaske beat Low and Raynauld, 8-5, at No. 1, and Kuzmanovic and Foley raised their spring record to 3-1 with a 8-3 win over Peric and West.
Purdue next competes Feb. 16 with a 1 p.m. home match against Toledo.
Purdue 6, Butler University 1
Singles competition
1. James Low (BUTLER) def. Paul Rose (PUR) 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
2. Branko Kuzmanovic (PUR) def. Evan West (BUTLER) 6-3, 6-2
3. Eric Hodgman (PUR) def. Eric Breitenbach (BUTLER) 6-1, 6-3
4. Kurt Zaske (PUR) def. Ben Raynauld (BUTLER) 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 10-6
5. Paul Foley (PUR) def. Sandy Berry (BUTLER) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
6. Scott Warner (PUR) def. Chris Peric (BUTLER) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Paul Rose/Kurt Zaske (PUR) def. James Low/Ben Raynauld (BUTLER) 8-5
2. Eric Breitenbach/Sandy Berry (BUTLER) def. Jose Fuenmayor/Eric Hodgman (PUR) 8-4
3. Branko Kuzmanovic/Paul Foley (PUR) def. Chris Peric/Evan West (BUTLER) 8-3
Match Notes:
Butler University 1-4
Purdue 1-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,3,2,5,4,1)
T-3:02 A-56