April 29, 2010
The Purdue men's tennis team saw its season end Thursday with a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to 61st-ranked Iowa in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament at the IU Tennis Center in Bloomington, Ind.
"Our seniors left their hearts out on the courts today," head coach Pawel Gajdzik said. "They played hard and wanted to come back for one more day. You have to give credit to Iowa. They made some shots at the end to win. I'm very proud of senior class, and their accomplishments will be known for years to come. Winning the doubles points always puts you in a good position, and we had a few chances to take this match. We wish this would have ended differently, but being in this position will make us work even harder in the fall to try and put ourselves in the NCAA Tournament race next year. With that attitude, we can become a force in this conference for years to come."
Purdue (11-15) claimed the doubles point for the fifth time in its last six matches and second time in less than a week against the Hawkeyes. Senior Paul Foley and sophomore Thomas Wilson gave the Boilermakers an early lead in the point with an 8-5 defeat of Tommy McGeorge and Will Vasos at No. 2. Iowa (13-9) tied the point when Marc Bruche and Nikita Zotov took an 8-6 decision over seniors Slavko Bijelica and Branko Kuzmanovic at No. 1 before senior P.J. Rose and junior Eric Ramos clinched the match's opening point by defeating Reinoud Haal and Austen Kauss 9-7 at No. 3.
The Hawkeyes were able to pull into the lead by taking the first three singles matches. Haal struck the first blow with his 6-4, 6-1 win over Ramos at No. 4, and then Vasos bounced back for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Kuzmanovic at No. 2. Kauss then moved Iowa within one victory of advancement with a 7-6 (5), 6-2 win over Wilson at No. 6.
The Boilermakers continued to fight and won the next two matches to even the score. Foley fought back after dropping his first set to defeat McGeorge 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. Bijelica also recovered from a slow start to defeat Zotov 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 at No. 3 and claim his third straight singles victory. The deciding match was the closest contest of the day, and Bruche was able to outlast Rose 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-3 at No. 1 to move the Hawkeyes into the quarterfinal round.
Purdue finished with the highest single-season win total for the program since 2003, when the Boilermakers earned 13 victories. Six Purdue athletes earned career-high wins totals in their first season under Gajdzik's direction. Foley was named the team's most improved player and took scholar-athlete honors for the second straight year. Rose, who was named team MVP and recipient of the Laith Al-Agba Team Player Award, led the Boilermakers with his 20 singles wins and 22 doubles triumphs in 2009-10.