March 25, 2007
By Jeff Rosa
Purdue sports information student assistant
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue fell to the fifth-ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame 7-0 Sunday at the Schwartz Tennis Center. The Boilers now have a record of 8-5, 1-2 Big Ten; the Irish moved to 16-2, 0-0 in the Big East.
"Notre Dame is a real talented team," said head coach Tim Madden. "We may not have won but we were in the fight, we competed hard and that's all you can ask for as a coach."
The Irish captured the doubles point by sweeping all three matches; however the team of senior Paul Rose and freshman Branko Kuzmanovic were able to put up a good fight at the No. 1 spot agsinst the seventh-ranked team of Sheeva Parbhu and Ryan Keckley.
The Boiler duo was able to come back from a 5-2 deficit and tie it up at 5-5 and again at 6-6 before losing the next two points.
Despite losing at all six singles, Rose took 54th-ranked Parbhu to a super-tiebreak third set, but fell 6-3, 4-6, 10-4.
"Rose is our senior captain and has been one of the best competitors our program has ever known," said Madden. "And if you look at the Notre Dame lineup, it's full of seniors just like him - it's a team of leaders who possess great confidence."
The Boilers are back in action Friday at 5 p.m. against Northwestern at the Schwartz Tennis Center in West Lafayette, Ind.
#5 Notre Dame 7, Purdue University 0
Singles competition
1. #8 Stephen Bass (UND) def. Branko Kuzmanovic (PUR) 6-2, 6-2
2. #54 Sheeva Parbhu (UND) def. Paul Rose (PUR) 6-3, 4-6, 10-4
3. #102 Brett Helgeson (UND) def. Eric Hodgman (PUR) 6-1, 6-4
4. Barry King (UND) def. Kurt Zaske (PUR) 6-4, 6-2
5. Ryan Keckley (UND) def. Paul Foley (PUR) 6-1, 6-2
6. Andrew Roth (UND) def. Scott Warner (PUR) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #7 Ryan Keckley/Sheeva Parbhu (UND) def. Branko Kuzmanovic/Paul Rose (PUR) 8-6
2. Barry King/Brett Helgeson (UND) def. Eric Hodgman/Kurt Zaske (PUR) 8-2
3. Stephen Bass/Andrew Roth (UND) def. Paul Foley/Griffin Nienberg (PUR) 8-5
Match Notes:
Notre Dame 16-2, 0-0 Big East; National ranking #5
Purdue University 8-5, 1-2 Big Ten
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,1,5,3,6,2)
T-2:45 A-55