Spartans Complete Series Sweep of Purdue, Defeat Boilermakers, 5-2

EAST LANSING, Mich. – On a sunny spring day on the Michigan State University campus, the Spartan men's tennis team defeated Purdue, 5-2, Saturday afternoon on the MSU Outdoor Tennis Courts. MSU earned the season sweep over the Boilermakers and improved to 5-6 in Big Ten play with the victory.

"It was good to get another Big Ten win," said MSU men's tennis head coach Gene Orlando. "It's always tough beating a team twice in one season. The elements were a little difficult; it warmed up as the match went along, but the wind was definitely a factor. Nothing was pretty, but we gutted out a win and we're excited to take it."

The Spartans (5-8, 5-6 Big Ten) grinded out a victory in the doubles point to take an early lead, as Jarreau Campbell and Graydon Lair edged Tomasz Dudek and Sebastian Welch in a tiebreaker, 7-4, at No. 2 doubles. Although MSU's No. 49-ranked duo of Nick Williams and Kazuki Matsuno fell, 6-4, on the top court, Drew Keene and Reed Crocker were able to win on the third court, 6-3, to give MSU the point.

In singles play, Carson Gates cruised past Welch in straight sets at No. 3, 6-0, 6-2, but Purdue won at No. 4 singles to cut the margin to 2-1.

A pair of Spartan freshmen, Lair and Luke Baylis, clinched the dual for the Spartans with comeback wins at No. 6 and No. 5 singles, respectively. After falling in the first set to Santiago Galan, 6-4, Lair rallied for a 6-3 win in the second and a 6-0 sweep in the third. Baylis also dropped his first set to Dudek, 6-1, but stormed back to take the next two sets, 6-2 and 6-3.

"We were down for a while, but credit to our two freshmen, after dropping the first sets, they came back to win the second sets and closed it in the third set," said Orlando. "It's great to see freshmen find a way and figure out how to win. Things haven't been easy; they've had some tough matches, but they found a way to win, which is great, especially at this time of year."

Purdue (1-11) picked up a second point with a win at No. 1 singles, but Josh Mukherjee closed the match with a three-set win against Michal Wozniak on the second court, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Michigan State returns to action Sunday, April 4 to host Indiana at the MSU Outdoor Tennis Courts at 12 p.m.

Spartans Complete Series Sweep of Purdue, Defeat Boilermakers, 5-2

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Luke Baylis

Jarreau Campbell

Reed Crocker

Carson Gates

Drew Keene

Graydon Lair

Kazuki Matsuno

Josh Mukherjee

Nick Williams