Michigan State University
Purdue
Men's Tennis Drops Second Big Ten Match
2/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 24, 2007
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men's tennis team found itself in a similar situation against visiting Big Ten team Purdue Saturday afternoon at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. As with last weekend's dual against Minnesota, the score was tied at 3-all with the last point coming down to the No. 6 singles player Scott Rasmussen. After a disappointing 4-3 loss to Minnesota, the team dropped its second consecutive 4-3 decision, this time to Purdue, as the team lost in the final singles set.
"It was another hard-fought Big Ten battle and that is how most of the duals are going to go," said head coach Gene Orlando. "Unfortunately we were not able to pull out the close ones to win the match, but there is still a lot of season to play and get better."
MSU started the contest on a high note, winning the doubles point.
The pair of John Allare and Tyler Sauerbrey fell on the No. 3 court to Eric Hodgman and Patrick Rose, 8-5, despite being up 3-2 to start the match. After Purdue rallied to go up 7-3, the No. 3 team won two consecutive games to bring the score to 7-5, but did not have enough to capture the win.
No. 1 doubles pair, Adam Monich and Nick Rinks, won their second consecutive Big Ten doubles match, 8-4, over the Boilermakers' Paul Rose and Kurt Zaske. The MSU duo improved their record to 4-2 overall and a perfect 2-0 in Big Ten play.
The No. 2 team of Michael Flowers and Alex Forger were the last and deciding group to come off the court. Taking on Purdue's Paul Foley and Branko Kuzmanovic, the two teams stayed close, tying the score at every possible point, until the Spartans had a break at 7-6. With Forger serving, he held his serve and came away with the match win and the doubles point for the Green and White, 8-6.
Singles play started shaky for the Spartans as Forger lost on the No. 2 court to Kuzmanovic in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0, and allowed the Boilermakers to tie the score at 1-all.
No. 1 solo player Rinks, who has not lost a doubles or a singles match against Purdue during his three-year tenure as a Spartan, continued his success over the Boilermakers as he defeated Paul Rose in two quick sets, 6-2, 6-3.
Monich, at No. 3 singles, split the first two sets with the Boilermakers' Hodgman, winning the first set, 6-3, while falling in the second, 6-3. The momentum eventually swung the way of Purdue, as Hodgman got the win with a 6-4 victory.
In Jason Norville's first Big Ten match of the season, with the dual tied at 2-all, he dropped the first set, 6-2, to Patrick Rose. He came back to win the second set, 6-3, but dropped the third and final set by a score of 6-2.
At the No. 4 spot, Allare had the biggest comeback of the day against Purdue's Zaske. The Spartan went down 5-1 in the first set and went on to win six consecutive games for a 7-5 first-set win. Allare lost to Zaske in the second, 6-1, but came back to win the third, 6-2, after being tied at 2-all.
"John's an ultimate fighter and he gave us the chance for the last match to mean something," Orlando said. "Coming back from being down 5-1 in the first set just shows the fight that he has and it inspires the team."
For the second consecutive match, Rasmussen found himself at the deciding point for the Spartans on the No. 6 court. With the teams tied at 4-all, Purdue's Foley won the first set 6-4. MSU came back to win the second set 7-6 (7-5), but lost in the third 6-4 for the fourth Purdue point.
"We need to keep being aggressive. I think it comes down to experience," Orlando said. "We have a sophomore and a freshman playing at No. 5 and No. 6 singles. We're just a young team. If we keep getting in this position, one will fall our way."
Michigan State falls to 6-6, 0-2 in Big Ten play and Purdue remains perfect with a 5-0 record, 1-0 in conference.
The Spartans return to action next Friday, March 2 for the third of six home games, against Illinois at 6 p.m.
Players Mentioned
