Jan. 31, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's tennis team was defeated 4-3 by Western Michigan Saturday on the Basham Courts inside the Schwartz Tennis Center.
"I told the team this was virtually an identical match to the loss to DePaul," head coach Tim Madden said. "We created opportunities to win the match. In the middle, when it's most important to step up before it gets tight in the third set, we need to finish. We didn't do that again today."
Purdue (0-2) fell behind early by losing the doubles point. Western Michigan (6-1) earned a victory at No. 2 as Zeyad Montasser and Michael Calderone defeated Branko Kuzmanovic and P.J. Rose by a score of 8-5. Paul Foley and Eric Ramos evened the doubles competition with an 8-4 victory over Brad Noel and Kazuya Komada at No. 3. The point was decided at the No. 1 position, where Kevin Hayward and Casey Cullen defeated Slavko Bijelica and Griff Nienberg 8-6 after an intense battle.
Western Michigan's lead widened to 2-0 when Noel defeated freshman Thomas Wilson 6-2, 6-3 at No. 6 singles. Rose, a senior from Highland, Ill, narrowed the gap to 2-1 with his 7-5, 6-2 victory over Cullen at No. 5 singles. Komada defeated freshman Roberto Cabrini 7-6 (3), 6-3 at No. 3 to put the Broncos ahead 3-1.
Bijelica pulled the Boilermakers within one again as he earned a 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-4 victory over Hayward at the No. 1 position. Western Michigan clinched the match when Calderone defeated Kuzmanovic 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (5) at No. 2. Ramos beat Montasser 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1 at No. 4 for the final margin.
"Our fan support this time was phenomenal," Madden said. "It started with the wrestling team, and then Eric Ramos' friends. Even though we had lost the match, they were still loud and encouraged him to victory."
Ramos is the only Purdue player to be a perfect 4-0 this season combining doubles and singles matches. Bijelica is 2-0 in singles play. Purdue leads the all-time series with Western Michigan, which dates back to 1936, 22-20.
Purdue continues its season-opening streak of five consecutive home matches Sunday against Butler. The match is scheduled to start at 10 a.m., and admission is free. Live results will be available at purduesports.com.