March 27, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 67 Purdue Boilermakers upset the 44th-ranked Michigan State Spartans, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon at the Schwartz Tennis Center.
"Today was a battle," Boilermaker head coach Pawel Gajdzik said. "We are a team that really fights. We built up some good momentum from Friday's match against Michigan. Even though we didn't get the outcome we would have liked, we played tough and had four close, three set matches. We had a great practice yesterday and adjusted a few things. I thought the guys responded well. We were competitive in doubles and came out strong in singles. It was a team effort today. We still need to improve because we are in a league where anyone can win on any given day and we have two huge home matches next weekend."
Michigan State (13-4, 0-3 Big Ten) was able to outlast Purdue in doubles to earn the point. Jason Norville and John Stratton finished first for the Spartans as they held off Krisztian Krocsko and Eric Ramos at No. 1, 8-6. Clark Richardson and Mat Nelson finished next for the Green and White as they knocked off Szymon Tatarczyk and Jan-Frans Engelbrecht at No. 3, 8-6.
The No. 2 doubles match was the most exciting of the afternoon for the Boilermakers. Aaron Dujovne and Pawel Poziomski trailed Ronnie Hulewicz and Aaron Pfister, 7-2. However, the Purdue duo refused to give up and won five consecutive games, fighting off multiple match points on the way, to knot the match at seven. The Spartans then took an 8-7 lead, but Dujovne and Poziomski again fought back and eventually won the match, 9-8 (5).
"We started poorly and had lots of mistakes," Poziomski said of the match. "We still had the mindset that we were going to win even after we were way behind. We thought that we could help the other guys out if we could get back in the match. We turned it around and had good energy. We built up momentum for ourselves and were able to win the match."
Purdue (10-7, 1-2) carried the momentum into singles play. Mark Kovacs was first to finish as he turned in a dominant performance at No. 3 with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Stratton to tie the score at one. Dujovne gave the Boilermakers a 2-1 lead after blowing out Drew Lied at No. 5, 6-2, 6-1. The Spartans fought back to tie the score at two with a win at No. 4. Pfister defeated Ramos in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
Tatarczyk was impressive at No. 1 knocking off a great competitor in Hulewicz, 6-4, 6-1. However, Michigan State wouldn't go away quietly. Denis Bogatov tied the match at three with a 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory over Krocsko at No. 2. Finally, Purdue was able to complete the upset with a victory at No. 6. Poziomski took down Norville in two sets, 7-6 (0), 6-3.
"Give a lot of credit to Szymon (Tatarczyk) because he beat a good opponent in straight sets," Gajdzik said. "He really dictated the match. I thought Mark (Kovacs), Aaron (Dujovne), and Pawel (Poziomski) really played well in their two set victories as well. I also have to give credit to Krisztian (Krocsko). He lost the first set, 6-1, really quickly, but he just refused to lose. He battled back before dropping the second set tiebreaker, but he kept fighting."
The Boilermakers return to action next weekend when they host a pair of Big Ten matches. The Old Gold and Black will face No. 66 Iowa on Saturday and No. 10 Illinois on Sunday. Both matches at the Schwartz Tennis Center are scheduled to start at noon ET.