March 8, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue's men's tennis team (7-5, 1-1 Big Ten) lost to No. 7 Illinois (8-4, 2-0 Big Ten) Saturday night before 554 fans at the Atkins Tennis Center in Champaign, Ill.
The Illini proved worthy of their national ranking by beating the Boilermakers in all three doubles contests and capturing five of six singles matches in straight sets.
"We definitely showed improvement from the last time we played a top-ten team, which was Notre Dame," said head coach Tim Madden. "We're taking care of 90 percent of the things we need to, but Illinois is too good of a team to be giving 10 percent to."
Purdue sophomore Slavko Bijelica was the lone Boilermaker to send his match to a third set, where he lost to No. 92 Ruben Gonzales, 6-1, 3-6, 1-0.
The Boilermakers' next match is scheduled for next Thursday against Miami as part of their Spring Break training trip. From there, Purdue will visit Western Michigan, Wisconsin and Northwestern before returning home to the Schwartz Tennis Center on April 5 vs. Michigan.
Tennis Match ResultsPurdue University vs University of Illinois3/8/2008 at Urbana, Ill.
#7 University of Illinois 7, Purdue University 0 Singles competition
1. #14 Ryan Rowe (ILL) def. Branko Kuzmanovic (PUR) 6-1, 6-32. #92 Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. Slavko Bijelica (PUR) 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (10-2)3. Marc Spicijaric (ILL) def. Patrick Rose (PUR) 6-3, 6-34. #84 Billy Heiser (ILL) def. Eric Ramos (PUR) 6-3, 6-35. Waylon Chin (ILL) def. Griff Nienberg (PUR) 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)6. Connor Roth (ILL) def. Paul Foley (PUR) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles competition1. #20 Billy Heiser/Ryan Rowe (ILL)def. Slavko Bijelica/Branko Kuzmanovic (PUR) 8-6
2. #21 Brandon Davis/Ruben Gonzales (ILL)def. Eric Ramos/Patrick Rose (PUR) 8-5
3. Marc Spicijaric/Connor Roth (ILL)def. Griff Nienberg/Jose Fuenmayor (PUR) 8-6
Match Notes:Purdue University 7-5, 1-1 Big TenUniversity of Illinois 8-4, 2-0 Big Ten; National ranking #7Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (1,3,6,4,2,5)T-0 A-554