Feb. 5, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's tennis team concluded its season-opening homestand with a 6-1 win over Toledo on Friday evening on the Basham Courts inside the Schwartz Tennis Center.
"We played much better in singles, and we were determined to win," head coach Pawel Gajdzik said. "Our performance in doubles was unsatisfactory, and we are going to have to make some drastic changes because that point will be big for us down the road. We are coming to the end of the first quarter of our schedule, and that leaves us with a very important stretch to give us a good checkpoint. We are looking forward to our first road test Sunday against a challenging Vanderbilt team."
In a tightly-contested doubles segment, Purdue (6-0) dropped the opening point for the first time this season. Toledo (3-3) gained an early advantage when Bryant Dudzik and Terence Weigand handed senior Paul Foley and sophomore Matt Manasse their first loss this season by earning an 8-5 win at No. 3. The Boilermakers pulled even at No. 2, where senior P.J. Rose and junior Eric Ramos defeated Sven Burus and Aleksandar Elezovic 9-8 (5). The point was decided at No. 1 when Nutthavit Likitkumchorn and Leo Sarria pulled out a 9-7 win over senior Slavko Bijelica and sophomore Thomas Wilson, their first loss this season, at No. 1.
Purdue came out firing in singles, sweeping all six matches to claim victory. Wilson brought the Boilermakers even when he defeated Dudzik 6-0, 6-1 at the No. 5 spot. Foley remained unbeaten in singles this season by taking down Sarria 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4 to pull Purdue ahead. Ramos continued his unbeaten start in singles play with a dominating 6-1, 6-2 win over Elezovic at No. 3.
Rose clinched the match for Purdue when he dispatched Likitkumchorn 6-0, 7-5 at No. 1 and improved to 2-0 at the top spot in the singles lineup. Bijelica pushed the lead even further and improved to 4-1 this season with a 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (7) win over Burus at No. 2. Freshman Billy Heuer defeated Leonardo Henriques 6-2, 7-6 (5) at No. 6 for the final margin.
"We just didn't play good doubles today," Rose said. "We didn't have good energy, and it woke us up for singles. I think everyone is starting to play with more confidence in singles. I'm the oldest guy on the team, so I feel like I should be in a position to close out matches. I expect to handle that, and I was glad to get it done today."
The Boilermakers have now won six straight matches against Toledo and hold an 8-1 advantage in the all-time series. Purdue's six wins this season match the team's win total from all of last season and is the longest winning streak since the 2007 squad opened its season with seven straight wins.
Purdue hits the road for the first time this season as it travels to 48th-ranked Vanderbilt on Sunday. Action begins at 1 p.m. ET from the Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Tennis Center.