Feb. 6, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's tennis team earned its second straight victory Friday by defeating Illinois State 6-1 on the Basham Courts inside the Schwartz Tennis Center.
"Our doubles performance was the best of the season by far," head coach Tim Madden said. "We went through a couple of losses (earlier in the season) and identified that it is not enough to compete hard at the beginning. You have to be willing to do what it takes to finish. Illinois State had their moments early, but we took it away from them. This was a good win for our team."
Purdue (2-2) swept the doubles point for the second straight match and the third time this season. Sophomore Eric Ramos and junior Paul Foley claimed the first decision of the match with their 8-3 win over Michael Hobson and Micah LeMoine at No. 3. Purdue's No. 2 duo of Branko Kuzmanovic and P.J. Rose clinched the doubles point with an 8-4 victory over Filip Miljevic and Timon Reichelt. Slavko Bijelica and Griff Nienberg completed the sweep by defeating Skip Span and Daniel Tobar 8-3 at the No. 1 position.
The Boilermakers extended their lead by quickly winning two singles matches. Ramos pushed his singles record to 3-0 this season with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Tobar. Including doubles matches, Ramos is 6-0 this season. Foley gave Purdue a 3-0 lead in the match with his 6-1, 6-1 defeat of LeMoine at No. 6. Foley, who picked up a singles victory for the second straight match, is 5-0 this season combining doubles and singles.
The match was clinched at the No. 4 singles position when Rose completed his 6-4, 6-1 win over Hobson. Rose, a senior from Highland, Ill., is now 3-1 in singles play this season. Freshman Roberto Cabrini extended Purdue's lead and picked up his second win in as many matches with a 6-2, 2-6, 1-0 (10) victory over Span at No. 3.
"Coming into this match we were all fired up with (Illinois State head coach) Cris James being our former assistant," Rose said. "We all wanted to win and make them feel our presence. I thought we did a good job of that."
Purdue's lead ballooned to 6-0 as Bijelica remained undefeated and improved his team-leading win total in singles to four with his 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over fellow Novi Sad, Serbia, native Miljevic at No. 1. The final margin was reached when Reichelt defeated Kuzmanovic 7-5, 7-6 (4) at No. 2.
"P.J. is a good example of what I'm talking about," Madden said. "He got up a set and early in the second he didn't let up. He said, 'I'm not letting you back in.' That was a critical time for our team to take the match."
Purdue won a 6-1 decision for the second consecutive match after dropping two straight 4-3 finals to begin the season. The Boilermakers conclude their season-opening streak of five straight home matches Sunday against Arkansas. The match begins at noon ET, and admission is free. Live results will be available at purduesports.com.