March 22, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - It was a tough Saturday for Boilermaker tennis as both men's and women's teams lost to 6-1 to their respective opponents. The 57th-ranked Purdue men (7-7, 1-0 Big Ten) fell at Western Michigan (12-7, 0-0 MAC), while the women (2-9, 0-2) were beaten at Michigan State (9-5, 1-0).
The Boilermakers lost all six doubles matches and 10 of 12 singles contests.
Griff Nienberg at No. 5 singles and Stephanie Wooten at No. 2 singles were Purdue's lone victors.
Nieberg defeated Bryan Norville, 6-2, 6-4, and Wooten, playing at No. 2 for the first time this season, responded with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Manon Noe. Wooten has won three straight singles matches in improving her overall record to 7-4.
Both duals were closer than the final scores indicated. In the men's dual, Slavko Bijelica, Eric Ramos and Paul Foley all fell in the third set at the No. 2, 4 and 6 positions. The women's team also came up short in the third set with Brooke Beier, Joanna Craven and Anna Dzeva falling at the No. 1, 4 and 5 spots.
"Our guys were physically prepared, but we did not have a practice this week with the type of competing required to show mental tenacity and Western Michigan was more mentally tenacious than us and it showed on their home surface," said Purdue men's head coach Tim Madden. "Next week we'll have a different type of practice, and I hope we can learn from this loss and respond. It was the right time for a tough lesson, since we're beginning the heart of our season next weekend."
The men's team remains on the road next weekend with visits to Wisconsin and Northwestern on March 29 and 30. The women return home to the Schwartz Tennis Center, playing host to Northwestern, Wisconsin and Notre Dame next Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday.