April 2, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's tennis team was defeated 7-0 Friday evening by 41st-ranked Indiana on the Basham Courts inside the Schwartz Tennis Center.
"We fought hard but didn't play our best tennis," head coach Pawel Gajdzik said. "IU took advantage of our mistakes. We will just regroup and come out ready to play tomorrow."
Purdue (10-8, 0-3 Big Ten) dropped the first point of the match as Indiana (11-4, 2-1) claimed two doubles matches. The Boilermakers jumped out ahead at No. 3, where senior P.J. Rose and junior Eric Ramos defeated Will Kendall and Stephen Vogl 8-4. The Hoosiers evened the match when Santiago Gruter and Jeremy Langer handed seniors Slavko Bijelica and Branko Kuzmanovic just their second loss this season 8-3 at No. 1. Lachlen Ferguson and Josh MacTaggert were able to clinch the point by earning an 8-4 decision over sophomore Matt Manasse and senior Paul Foley at No. 2.
The Hoosiers extended their lead when the match moved to singles. Alexander van Gils grabbed a win at No. 6 with his 6-2, 6-1 triumph over sophomore Thomas Wilson, who was making his first appearance since March 12. After a tight first set, Langer pulled out a 7-6 (1), 6-1 win over Rose at No. 3 to pull Indiana within one point of victory. The match was clinched at No. 2 when MacTaggart bettered Kuzmanovic 6-4, 6-3.
The final three singles contests kept the crowd entertained as two needed three sets and the third was decided in a second-set tiebreak. Gruter was able to hold off Ramos for a 7-5, 7-6 (4) victory at No. 4 before Ferguson earned a come-from-behind victory over Bijelica 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (8) at No. 1. Isade Juneau brought the match, which lasted well into a fourth hour, to a close with his 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Foley at No. 5.
The Boilermakers were defeated at home for just the second time in 11 matches this season. With the win, Indiana tied this year's Crimson and Gold Cup standings at 6.5 points for each university.
Purdue returns to action Saturday when it hosts 15th-ranked Illinois at noon ET. Admission to the Schwartz Tennis Center is free, and live results can be found at purduesports.com.