March 24, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's tennis team swept through Indiana State to earn a 7-0 victory Tuesday at the Schwartz Tennis Center.
"I was impressed with our competitive level," head coach Tim Madden said. "We had some pretty strong winds during doubles. I told the team that they passed their first test in dealing with that. I wanted to make sure our guys felt like they needed to create an atmosphere of sustained positive energy, and we certainly did that. With Slavko (Bijelica) out of the lineup, it was good the guys raised their level together. Roberto (Cabrini) played with a lot of confidence. He looked like an experienced doubles player, and that continued into singles."
Purdue (6-9) won the doubles point for the eighth time this season during the first competition held on the Schwartz Family Outdoor Courts. Freshman Roberto Cabrini and senior Griff Nienberg won their first match as a duo by defeating Mpiloenhle Migogo and Milos Pavlovic 8-2 at No. 2. Junior Branko Kuzmanovic and senior P.J. Rose, playing at the No. 1 position for the first time this season, clinched the point for the Boilermakers with an 8-5 win over Jon Sigurdsson and Josh Smith. Purdue completed the sweep at No. 3 when sophomore Eric Ramos and freshman Thomas Wilson beat Michael Wenham and Blake Douglas 8-2 to improve to 4-1 this season.
The match was then moved inside the Schwartz Tennis Center because of high winds, and the singles matches were contested on the Basham Courts. Purdue brought its momentum from doubles inside as the Boilermakers did not drop a set in any of the six singles matches.
Nienberg extended Purdue's lead and evened his season singles record at 4-4 with a commanding 6-1, 6-0 win over Wenham at No. 5. Freshman Jan-Frans Engelbrecht improved to 2-1 this season by defeating Douglas 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6. Cabrini clinched the match for the Boilermakers with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Sigurdsson at No. 4.
"Beating Indiana State is good, because it gives us confidence going into the IU match," Cabrini said. "Since it was my first time playing doubles, I was a little nervous and I was really happy we got the win. That helped me enter singles loose and confident."
The wins continued to come after Purdue clinched the match. Kuzmanovic, playing his first match at No. 1 singles, won his third match in a row by claiming a 7-5, 6-2 decision over Migogo. Ramos continued his trend of alternating wins and losses in his last five matches and improved to 8-6 this season by defeating Smith 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2. The final margin was reached at No. 3 when Rose improved to 9-6 in 2009 with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Pavlovic.
Purdue improved to 5-3 this season when winning the doubles point and has won the last three matches it has gained the initial point. Purdue has won the last six contests between the two teams and now leads the all-time series 29-2-2. The Boilermakers continue with in-state competition and resume Big Ten play Saturday as they travel to Bloomington to take on No. 45 Indiana at noon ET.