March 2, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue's men's tennis team (7-4, 1-0 Big Ten) won its Big Ten Conference opener over No. 65 Michigan State (11-5, 0-2 Big Ten) 6-1 Sunday afternoon in front of an electric crowd at the Schwartz Tennis Center.
The attendance, officially listed at 70, was small but still made a big difference at each court.
"The team and our fans have worked together to become an important seventh man," said head coach Tim Madden, whose Boilermakers are 7-0 at home this year. "They start a clap at the start of each match point and that can be distracting to an opponent if they're not used to it. It's another one of those little things that makes a big difference."
Today's victory was Purdue's first over a ranked opponent since beating No. 37 Minnesota 4-1 in the first round of the 2007 Big Ten Tournament. It also marked the first time the Boilermakers had beaten the Spartans by as many as five points since the 2004 season.
The last three decisions between the two schools had all been determined by one point.
"We beat them the last two years 4-3, so I think it's great we were able to beat a talented team 6-1," said redshirt junior P.J. Rose. "It's always a big win when you can start off your conference season on the right foot. This win shows the rest of the Big Ten we're here to compete."
Purdue jumped out to a 1-0 lead with doubles victories at the No. 2 and 3 positions.
Rose and Eric Ramos held back Billy Gardner and Alex Forger at the No. 2 spot, 8-6, in improving to 5-3 this spring.
Jose Fuenmayor and Griff Nienberg improved to 4-2 at No. 3 singles with their 8-6 comeback victory over John Allare and Tyler Sauerbrey.
Ramos said the doubles point provided some needed confidence for singles as the Boilermakers went out and won four of six first sets.
Ramos was one of two Boilermakers to drop his first set, but the freshman rallied to win the second set 6-1 and a 10-6 tiebreak over Adam Monich.
"He had a strong serve and delivered some big shots, but I could tell he was getting tired," Ramos said. "I knew I was going to have moments in which to come back on him."
The Boilermakers already claimed the victory by the time Ramos and Monich entered their tiebreak, but Madden felt this match was the most important of the day.
"The game is over and we had won, but all of Eric's teammates were down there on the court, pushing him to win," he said. "It was as important for Eric to win that match as it was for anyone else. He really fed off the team energy and chemistry."
After Michigan State knotted the match briefly at 1-1, the Boilermakers rattled off five straight singles victories - four of them in straight sets.
Griff Nienberg at No. 5 singles quickly polished off John Stratton 6-4, 6-1, and Rose followed with his 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Allare at No. 3.
No. 6 singles player Paul Foley improved to 8-5 this spring with his 6-3, 7-5 win over Scott Rasmussen. Foley trailed for much of the second set before winning the final three points.
At No. 2, Slavko Bijelica also was down for most of the first set to Forger before coming back to win 7-5, then won 6-4 in the second set.
Purdue's next match is at No. 13 Illinois this Saturday, which will begin a month-long road trip. The Boilermakers, who won't play another home game until April 5, are 0-4 away from the Schwartz Tennis Center in 2008.