WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Geoff Young leads the Boilermakers to Michigan for a pair of ranked conference matchups.
Sunday's 6-1 win over Penn State gave coach Young his first Big Ten win at Purdue. Soham Purohit, Henrik Villanger and Juan David Velasquez got their first career wins over Big Ten opponents. All three victories came in straight sets.
Purdue also won the doubles point for the fifth time this season. It was the first doubles point since March 12 at UNLV.
The Boilermakers will match up against two of the Top 40 teams in the ITA rankings. With this weekend's matches against No. 16 Michigan State and No. 36 Michigan, Purdue will have played five ranked teams in the last six dual matches.
MATCH INFORMATION:
Purdue (6-10, 1-2) at No. 16 Michigan State (18-3, 4-0)
Saturday, April 6 | Noon
MSU Tennis Center
Purdue (6-10, 1-2) at No. 36 Michigan (10-10, 4-0)
Sunday, April 7 | Noon
Varsity Tennis Center
SCOUTING No. 16 MICHIGAN STATE:
No. 16 Michigan State is unbeaten to start the conference slate having faced three ranked teams in its first four Big Ten duals. The Spartans have faced 10 ranked opponents this spring and are 7-3 in those matchups. Michigan State's only home loss came in a narrow 3-4 loss to then-No. 46 Cornell.
Two Spartans are ranked in the Top 50 of ITAs singles rankings with three doubles teams also receiving a nod. No. 10 Ozan Baris and No. 41 Ronnie Hohmann are a combined 23-9 in dual matches this spring and neither player has left the top two positions.
Baris enters the weekend having been named the Big Ten Player of the Week for the second time in his career. His 2-0 weekend contributed to the first win over Illinois since 1997 and a victory against Northwestern earned him a team-high 12 wins on his birthday.
Purdue is 32-51 all-time against Michigan State. The Boilermaker's last win was a 5-2 decision in West Lafayette on April 10, 2022. The Boilers last won in East Lansing in 2016 after sweeping the Spartans 4-0.
SCOUTING No. 36 MICHIGAN:
The No. 36 Michigan Wolverines have won four straight to start Big Ten play bringing its record back to 10-10 this season. The Wolverines are 7-2 at home with losses against No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 TCU. In its four-game win streak, Michigan has outscored Big Ten opponents 20-4.
Two Michigan players are ranked in ITA singles rankings with No. 17 Gavin Young and No. 124 Jacob Bickersteth putting up 30 combined wins in dual matches. Young and Bickersteth are also the Wolverine's only ranked doubles team coming in at No. 23 in the ITA doubles rankings.
Purdue is 10-79 all-time against the Wolverines. The last Boilermaker win was a 5-2 decision on April 17, 2004. The victory in Ann Arbor was the third consecutive year that Purdue beat the Wolverines. Between 1997 and 2004 the Boilermakers pulled out nine of its 10 total victories against Michigan.
FOLLOW ALONG
For all the latest scores, stats and stories surrounding Purdue Men's Tennis, follow the team on Facebook (/PurdueMensTennis), X (@PurdueMTennis) and Instagram (@PurdueMTennis).
