Michigan State University
Purdue
Dube Propels MSU To Victory Over Purdue, 4-3
3/31/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's tennis collected its first conference win of the season in a thrilling, 4-3 victory over Purdue clinched by senior Michael Dube in the last match of the dual on Saturday afternoon at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility.
Michael Dube pulls off the 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 win to give the Spartans a 4-3 win!! pic.twitter.com/dhD1zgV7Z2
— MSU Men's Tennis (@MSU_Tennis) March 31, 2018
"It was a great team effort today," Michigan State head coach Gene Orlando said. "Obviously, we were very hungry and playing at home, it was a team we thought we could get. The guys fought hard. It looked like we had chances to close it out, but Purdue had a great comeback and it came down to the last match. I'm really happy for Michael to get a clincher with the match on the line as a senior. He fought hard. He's done all the work all four years to get to that moment. He deserved it."
MSU got off to a strong start by winning the doubles point with victories from courts one and two. Brett Forman and Jasper Koenen fought for a 7-5 win over Gergely Madarasz and Athell Bennett, earning a 2-0 doubles record this weekend and extending their win streak to three duals.
Michael Dube and Josh Mukherjee followed with a 7-6 victory, taking the breaker with a 7-4 win against Mateo Julio and Maksymilian Raupuk. Billy Shisler and Jack Winkler were in a tiebreaker when Michigan State clinched the point on court two.
Keeping it rolling at singles, Mukherjee finished his match quickly at No. 3 singles in a 6-1, 6-2 defeat over Javier Rodriguez, finishing the weekend 2-0.
Purdue rallied back, tying up the match at 2-all with wins from Bennett, 6-3, 6-2 over Davis Wong, and Julio, 0-6, 6-0, 6-4 over Koenen.
Forman pulled off a close win over Madarasz at No. 1 singles, winning both of his sets by a score of 7-5, leaving it up to courts two and six to finish out the match.
Shisler fought hard on court six through three sets but fell to Renen Hanayama, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, and the match was tied again at 3-all with court two in its third set.
Proving to be an eventful match-up at No. 2 singles, Dube went back and forth with Raupuk, not only going to a breaker in the second set, but needing a third for a decision. Down 4-3 late in the set, Dube battled back to take a 6-4 win, coming in clutch for the Spartans. Dube finished with a 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4 win over Raupuk to lift MSU to victory.
"It feels amazing," Dube said. "It all started with the doubles point. The doubles point is huge, especially going into singles, getting that one point was big. Credit to the guys. Brett did a great job at one and Josh pulled it out at three. I couldn't have done it without my teammates there at the end. I was really gasping for some energy there, and they provided that for me."
Michigan State continues conference action on the road next weekend, traveling to Evanston, Illinois, for a match against Northwestern at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 6 and following with a match in Champaign, Illinois, versus Illinois on Sunday, April 8 at 12 p.m.
Players Mentioned
