Jan. 24, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's tennis team grabbed a 7-0 win over Dayton in the second match of a doubleheader Sunday on the Basham Courts inside the Schwartz Tennis Center.
"We had a couple of significant individual wins today," head coach Pawel Gajdzik said. "I think we rebounded well after a tight match this afternoon. We got more solid performances from Slavko (Bijelica) and Eric (Ramos). I was happy to see Billy (Heuer) close it out. We still have a lot of work to do, but now we will turn our attention to Ball State."
Purdue (4-0) won the doubles point for the fourth time this season by earning its third straight sweep. Junior Eric Ramos and freshman Billy Heuer teamed up to defeat Robert Salcedo and Michael Koscielski 8-3 at No. 3. The point was clinched at No. 1, where senior Slavko Bijelica and sophomore Thomas Wilson picked up an 8-5 victory over Michael Rohana and Matt Sherman. Senior Paul Foley and sophomore Matt Manasse remained undefeated this season with an 8-5 defeat of Robbie McCallum and Bryce Warnock at No. 2.
The Boilermakers used the singles portion of the match to stretch their lead. After playing the only three-set match of the day's earlier contest, Ramos made quick work of Salcedo at the No. 2 position with a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Bijelica pulled Purdue within one point of clinching the match with his 6-1, 6-1 demolition of Rohana at No. 1. Heuer clinched the match and picked up his first dual-match singles win by beating McCallum 7-5, 6-1 at No. 4.
"We knew we had to take care of business," Heuer said. "I felt like, thanks to the coaches, I was ready to go out there and do what needed to be done to get the win."
Foley continued his unbeaten start to the 2010 campaign and extended Purdue's lead with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Sherman at No. 3. Foley, who has yet to lose a dual-match contest in singles or doubles, won his 20th overall match. Wilson grabbed his second singles win this season by defeating Warnock 6-1, 7-6 (5) at No. 5. Sophomore Jan-Frans Engelbrecht picked up his 10th win of the academic year and completed the shutout when he bounced back and beat Austin Weigand 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (6).
Purdue's four-match winning streak is the longest since the 2007 squad won seven in a row to begin the season. By earning their first 7-0 win of the season, the Boilermakers have now won a match by every score possible this year.
Purdue returns to the court Saturday when it hosts Ball State at noon ET.