April 25, 2014
By Tom Schott
Big Ten Women's Golf Championships Live Scoring
Big Ten Men's Tennis Tournament Central
Big Ten Women's Tennis Tournament Central
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Three Purdue teams begin Big Ten postseason play today.
Women's golf tees off at 9 a.m. on the 6,017-yard, par-72 Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort in southern Indiana. The Boilermakers enter the 54-hole tournament as the sixth-highest ranked Big Ten team by GolfStat.com at No. 61, while junior Aurora Kan is the second-highest ranked player in the field at No. 48.
Purdue has won four conference championships in the last six years, including last season, and has had six straight individual titlists.
Both the men's and women's tennis teams finished in fourth place during the Big Ten regular season and earned first-round tournament byes.
The 34th-ranked men (15-6, 7-4 Big Ten) square off against fifth-seeded and 32nd-ranked Northwestern at 10 a.m. in East Lansing, Mich., while the 41st-ranked women (11-9, 7-4) take on fifth-seeded and 37th-ranked Illinois at 11 ET a.m. in Evanston, Ill.
For the men, sophomore Mateus Silva and senior Mark Kovacs lead the way with 15 singles wins apiece. Junior Diego Acosta and senior Aaron Dujovne both have 14, followed by freshman Ricky Medinilla with 11. Dujovne has a team-best 9-2 mark against Big Ten foes, while Kovacs and Silva are 8-3. Kovacs and Medinilla were named second team all-conference. Purdue defeated Northwestern 4-3 on March 7 at the Schwartz Tennis Center.
Four Purdue women have tallied 10 or more singles wins, led by freshman Andjela Djokovic with 14. Sophomore Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum follows with 13, sophomore Krisztina Kapitany has 12 and freshman Nicole Robinson has 10. Both Djokovic and Bernard-Feigenbaum posted an 8-3 record against conference competition. Purdue defeated Illinois 5-2 on March 9 at the Schwartz Tennis Center.
Softball Sits Second
The softball team's 3-2 win over No. 4 Michigan on Wednesday at the Boilermaker Softball Complex equaled the highest-ranked opponent ever defeated by the Boilermakers. Purdue (25-22-1, 12-5) is in a virtual tie for second place in the Big Ten standings with Nebraska (11-4), three games behind pace-setting Michigan (15-2). Minnesota (11-5), Northwestern (11-6) and Wisconsin (9-5) are close behind.
This weekend, Purdue visits Wisconsin for a three-game series. Today's 5 p.m. ET game will be televised live by BTN. The Boilermakers wrap up the regular season next weekend at home against Minnesota. It marks the final three games at the Boilermaker Softball Complex, with Purdue's new stadium scheduled to open in 2015.
All 12 schools make the Big Ten Tournament, set for May 8 to 11 in Evanston, Ill., with the top four teams earning a first-round bye.
Same Song, Different Verse for Bunch
A seven-time winner of the Big Ten Athlete of the Week Award over the course of her indoor career, senior Dani Bunch earned her first such honor during an outdoor season after an impressive showing at the Kentucky Relays last weekend. Bunch won the shot put at 16.34 meters (53-7.5), finished seventh in the hammer throw at 55.06 meters (180-8), and was 14th in the discus at 42.24 meters (138-7).
Head coach Lonnie Greene called the Kentucky Relays "the best track meet and day of competition in my tenure" at Purdue, with three school records and three other top-five marks recorded. The school records were set by sophomore Chukwuebuka Enekwechi in the hammer throw at 68.41 meters (224-5), senior Andre Peart in the 400 hurdles at 50.54 and Kari Shoolbraid in the 800 meters at 2:04.66.
Forty-one Boilermakers (22 women and 19 men) currently are competing at the prestigious Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. Action got under way yesterday and continues today and tomorrow.
Day of Giving Set for April 30
Purdue University has set aside April 30 to celebrate its first-ever Day of Giving, encouraging students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and friends from all campuses to contribute to the university.
The John Purdue Club is involved in the Purdue Day of Giving. April 30 marks the renewal deadline for JPC membership, and members can renew or upgrade here. JPC members also can make an additional gift of any amount to their existing membership.
The day's theme is "Opportunity Granted."
April 30 also is the priority deadline to renew 2014 Purdue football season tickets, although ticket payments do not count towards Day of Giving totals. To renew season tickets, click here, and to purchase new season tickets, click here.
Etcetera
Baseball (10-27, 4-8) plays its penultimate home Big Ten series this weekend against Ohio State. First-pitch times are 6:30 p.m. today, 5:30 p.m. tomorrow (a change from the original schedule) and 1 p.m. Sunday at Alexander Field. The Boilermakers travel to Indiana (May 2-4) and Minnesota (May 9-11) before wrapping up the regular season at home against Iowa from May 15 to 17 ... Nadine Morgan has been promoted to associate head coach of the women's basketball team. She has been a member of head coach Sharon Versyp's staff for the last nine years, including eight seasons with the Boilermakers ... The second-annual Golden Petes Award show is at 7 p.m. Sunday. You can read more about Purdue's artful blend of accomplishment and fun, celebrating the achievements of Boilermaker student-athletes here and find out who came away with the certificates, medals and trophies Sunday night at purduesports.com ... Former volleyball player Anna Drewry (2009-12) has been hired as the head coach at Lafayette Jefferson High School.