March 7, 2010
The 65th-ranked Purdue men's tennis team lost its conference opener 6-1 at 42nd-ranked Penn State on Sunday at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center in University Park, Pa.
"We didn't execute our shots well enough to swing close first sets our way," head coach Pawel Gajdzik said. "Unfortunately, on the road you won't get second chances. We just have to regroup and focus on getting better."
Purdue (7-4, 0-1) started the match by dropping the doubles point as Penn State (10-1, 1-0) swept all three matches. Ryan Gormley and Warren Hardie earned an 8-4 victory over senior P.J. Rose and sophomore Thomas Wilson at No. 2 before Eddie Bourcheir and Jason Lee finished an 8-6 win over seniors Slavko Bijelica and Branko Kuzmanovic. The sweep was completed at No. 3 when Guillame St.-Maurice and Taylor Cohen picked up a 9-7 win over junior Eric Ramos and senior Paul Foley.
The Nittany Lions extended their lead as the match moved to singles play. Gormely won 6-2, 6-4 over Rose at No. 2 before Bourchier stopped Bijelica's three-match winning streak by taking a 7-5, 6-3 decision at No. 1. The match was clinched at No. 4, where Hardie outlasted Ramos to earn a three-set victory 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.
Since only four courts were available, the matches at No. 5 and No. 6 were not able to start until the first two were completed. Bryan Welnetz halted Foley's two-match singles winning streak by earning a 6-3, 6-1 victory at the No. 5 position. St.-Maurice picked up a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 6 over sophomore Jan-Frans Engelbrecht in Engelbrecht's first action since Jan. 24.
Kuzmanovic, who had started as one of the initial four matches on court, was still playing after the other five matches had concluded. The Belgrade, Serbia, native picked up his second win this season and allowed Purdue to avoid the sweep by battling back to defeat Lee 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 at No. 3. Kuzmanovic improved to 2-1 in three-set matches this season while stretching the team's record to 13-3 in dual-match singles contests that go the distance.
The Boilermakers return to action Friday as they conclude their three-match road swing at third-ranked Ohio State at 6 p.m. ET.