BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Coming off of an emotional win Wednesday against No. 23 Illinois, the Purdue men's tennis team was challenged by the quick turnaround of facing No. 37 Indiana on the road Sunday. The Boilermakers fell 4-3 at the IU Tennis Center, marking the team's third one point loss this season.
Despite the slip, however, Purdue continued to show improvements when playing away from home -- the team is perfect inside the Schwartz Tennis Center.
The Boilermakers picked up their first doubles point on the road this season with wins over the Hoosiers on courts two and three. Athell Bennett and Gergely Madarasz first defeated Afonso Salgado and Keivon Tabrizi 6-1 on the third. Ricky Medinilla and Benjamin Ugarte then bested Indiana's Zac Brodney and Bennett Crane 6-2 on court two, clinching the 1-0 lead.
Madarasz also earned Purdue's first singles victory on court two, outplaying Tabrizi 6-4, 6-2, and Stephan Koenigsfest acquired his seventh spring tally -- one off the team's lead -- against Crane. The freshman overcame a first set deficit on court four to win 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), giving the Boilermakers their third point of the match.
In between the conclusion of those two competitions, though, Purdue's lineup gave way to Hoosiers.
Medinilla lost to No. 125 Antonio Cembellin 6-4, 7-5 on court one; Indiana's Matthew McCoy defeated Ugarte 6-4, 6-2 on court three, and Dominik Sochurek fell to Oliver Sec 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) on court five.
Lastly, Bennett, who clinched the win for Purdue against Illinois, was unable to make it two in a row, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Brodney.
Moving forward, the biggest way the Boilermakers can continue to improve as a team is to play more in sync. Through today's match, Purdue has only earned two points on the road in the top-two positions, while in those same five matches, the Boilermakers have garnered almost four-times the wins in the lower four positions. Likewise, Bennett and Koenigsfest have either split or left a match unfinished in all five road competitions.
Purdue's next opportunity to make this adjustment is in Indian Wells, California, on March 17. The Boilermakers are one of eight programs participating in the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge during spring break.