Feb. 27, 2009
The Purdue men's tennis team was defeated 4-3 Friday by No. 11 Illinois inside the Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill.
"This is the first time we've had a complete effort in doubles and singles," head coach Tim Madden said. "This is the best we've played all season long, and Illinois is very good. I take doubles seriously because it takes a team effort. Even though we lost another one 4-3, we stayed with the No. 11 team from start to finish. I'm proud of our effort. We had guys playing to win and trying to find a way to win until the end. That was the biggest thing I took from playing Ohio State and Illinois, and we did a much better job tonight."
Purdue (3-7, 0-2) jumped ahead early by winning the doubles point. Sophomore Eric Ramos and freshman Thomas Wilson, playing doubles together for the first time this season, defeated Brian Livingston and Roy Kalmanovich 8-6 at No. 3. Illinois (9-3, 1-0) evened the doubles competition when Billy Heiser and Ruan Roelofse beat Branko Kuzmanovic and P.J. Rose 9-7 at No. 2. The Boilermakers clinched the point at No. 1 as Slavko Bijelica and Griff Nienberg beat the 35th-ranked doubles duo of Marek Czerwinski and Marc Spicijaric 9-8 (3).
Illinois evened the match in singles play as 90th-ranked Heiser defeated Rose 7-6 (5), 6-0 at No. 4. The Fighting Illini pushed ahead with Abe Souza's 6-1, 6-3 victory over Foley at No. 6. In the next match to finish, 65th-ranked Kalmanovich defeated Kuzmanovic 6-4, 6-3 at No 2.
Illinois clinched the match at No. 3 singles as Roelofse defeated Ramos 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. The Boilermakers continued to fight and picked up the final two singles matches. Freshman Roberto Cabrini took down Meedo El Tabakh 6-4, 6-2 at No. 5, and Bijelica beat Spicijaric, the 50th-ranked singles player in the NCAA, 6-7 (1), 7-6 (3), 1-0 (3).
Purdue fell to 1-5 this season against ranked opponents and in matches decided by a 4-3 margin. The Boilermakers return to action Sunday at 1 p.m. ET against Ball State inside the Muncie YMCA Tennis Center.