April 5, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - No. 14 Michigan (16-2, 7-0 Big Ten) held off No. 74 Purdue (8-9, 2-3 Big Ten) 4-3 Saturday afternoon at the Schwartz Tennis Center. The Wolverines' victory snapped Purdue's season long seven-match home-winning streak.
One streak still alive is Purdue's consecutive run of home doubles points, which was extended to eight following wins at the No. 2 and 3 positions.
Head coach Tim Madden flipped around the doubles combos after Branko Kuzmanovic went down with an injury late Friday. The sophomore is expected to play Sunday vs. Penn State.
"If he can walk and swing a tennis racquet, he's going to be in the lineup," Madden said.
The Wolverines are of the Big Ten's best doubles teams, having won 70 percent of their matches entering this weekend, but they couldn't solve the Boilermakers' aggressive style of play.
At No. 2 doubles, Eric Ramos and P.J. Rose came back from an early deficit against Mike Sroczynski and Peter Aarts to win 8-4. The No. 3 doubles combo of Jose Fuenmayor and Paul Foley controlled Andrew Mazlin and Mike DePietro from start to finish, winning 8-3.
Because of Kuzmanovic's abscene, Madden moved up Slavko Bijelica and Griff Nienberg to the No. 1 position where they were defeated by the nation's 34th ranked doubles tandem of Matko Maravic and George Navas, 8-3.
Kuzmanovic's injury had a bigger effect on the singles lineup. All the regular starters were promoted one spot and freshman Eren Turkmenler came in to play at No. 6 singles.
The Boilermakers competed hard at each position, but could only rake in victories at the No. 2 and 5 spots as both P.J. Rose and Paul Foley came back from a set down.
Rose defeated Jason Jung 3-6, 7-5, 10-6, and Foley topped Peter Aarts 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Bijelica challenged No. 52 Marvaic at No. 1 singles, taking the Wolverine to a first set tiebreak before falling 7-6 (6). Maravic then controlled the second set 6-1.
The three remaining Boilermakers lost in straight sets, but Madden was pleased with his club's overall competitive effort and looks forward to Sunday's dual with Penn State.
"I like the fact that we were able to take the top player out of our lineup due to a freak injury and still see this team rise to the occasion," Madden said. "We need to sustain this mental edge in order to get to NCAA's, but Penn State will certainly test it. We have to get past them."
Purdue and Penn State begin play tomorrow at noon. Admission to the Schwartz Tennis Center is free.