The competition is getting steeper for Purdue women’s tennis, and there have been some corresponding bumps in the record. The goal here is that Purdue learns lessons from these matches and uses them in future competition which will define just how successful this season is seen as. Also, while they lost in embarrassing fashion to their biggest rival, the men’s tennis team did pick up another win.
Men’s Results:
3/15: CANCELLED
Due to lightning and heavy rain in the Las Vegas area, this match got delayed for multiple hours before finally being cancelled.
3/25: FINAL—#72 Indiana 7, Purdue 0
|
#1 Doubles |
1 |
|
#70 Fletchall/Tiraspolsky (IND) |
3 |
|
Dudek/Labrador (PUR) |
6 |
|
#2 Doubles |
1 |
|
Boulier/Landau (IND) |
6 |
|
Cossu/Wozniak (PUR) |
3 |
|
#3 Doubles |
1 |
|
Kumar/Vukovic (IND) |
7 |
|
Ali-Khan/Morgan (PUR) |
5 |
|
#1 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Patrick Fletchall (IND) |
6 |
6 |
|
|
Daniel Labrador (PUR) |
3 |
1 |
|
|
#2 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Luka Vukovic (IND) |
6 |
5 |
12 |
|
Michal Wozniak (PUR) |
3 |
7 |
10 |
|
#3 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Sam Landau (IND) |
6 |
6 |
|
|
Mujtaba Ali-Khan (PUR) |
2 |
2 |
|
|
#4 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Ilya Tiraspolsky (IND) |
6 |
1 |
10 |
|
Milledge Cossu (PUR) |
4 |
6 |
7 |
|
#5 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Jagger Saylor (IND) |
6 |
6 |
|
|
Tomasz Dudek (PUR) |
4 |
2 |
|
|
#6 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Luc Boulier (IND) |
6 |
6 |
|
|
Julen Morgan (PUR) |
3 |
3 |
|
This was just an ugly match that shows just how far behind Purdue is. Purdue came out energized for this rivalry match, and doubles play was quite competitive. Daniel Labrador and Tomasz Dudek started strong with a ranked upset at #1 doubles, and after #2 doubles went to Indiana, it all came down to #3. In a back-and-forth battle, Purdue fell into double faulting at critical moments, and Indiana took the doubles point. At first, it looked like Purdue had shaken off this early setback, and they battled Indiana game for game during the first half of the first sets. Indiana being without their best player gave me some hope that things could turn. However, the mistakes kept piling up, and Indiana used that to pull away, putting up a clean sweep of the first sets. In most cases, the momentum had swung in Indiana’s favor so forcefully that the second set was rather uncompetitive, and Indiana had enough total points at this point to clinch the overall match. Even when Purdue managed to take a couple of second sets, they couldn’t take the ten-point tiebreakers. It is true that Milledge was victimized by a long delay between the second set and the tiebreaker that killed his momentum and Michal was victimized by some really bad "net luck", but it means Purdue couldn’t at least take a shred of pride.
3/26: FINAL—Purdue 4, Butler 3
|
#1 Doubles |
1 |
|
Brennan/Huete Vadillo (BUT) |
6 |
|
Dudek/Labrador (PUR) |
1 |
|
#2 Doubles |
1 |
|
Arts/Miralles (BUT) |
1 |
|
Cossu/Wozniak (PUR) |
5 |
*DID NOT FINISH
|
#3 Doubles |
1 |
|
Joss/Konakanachi (BUT) |
6 |
|
Ali-Khan/Morgan (PUR) |
3 |
|
#1 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Thomas Brennan (BUT) |
7 |
7 |
|
|
Daniel Labrador (PUR) |
6 |
5 |
|
|
#2 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Alvaro Huete Vadillo (BUT) |
6 |
4 |
|
|
Michal Wozniak (PUR) |
7 |
6 |
|
|
#3 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Borja Miralles (BUT) |
6 |
3 |
|
|
Mujtaba Ali-Khan (PUR) |
7 |
6 |
|
|
#4 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Rahulniket Konakanachi (BUT) |
6 |
2 |
|
|
Milledge Cossu (PUR) |
7 |
6 |
|
|
#5 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Patrick Joss (BUT) |
3 |
6 |
7 |
|
Tomasz Dudek (PUR) |
6 |
4 |
6 |
|
#6 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Aidan William (BUT) |
6 |
2 |
4 |
|
Hassan Baroudi (PUR) |
4 |
6 |
6 |
Finally, the losing streak is over. This is not a fantastic opponent, and things still don’t look great for Big Ten play, but this is a step in the right direction for the Boilermakers. Doubles play did not go well for Purdue, as the Bulldogs took the #1 and #3 doubles matches without too much issue. However, with state pride on the line, Purdue roared back in singles play. The key factor in this match was tiebreakers, and unlike in the previous match, Purdue did pretty well in those overall. Tiebreaker wins at #2, #3, and #4 singles propelled the Boilermakers to a majority of first set wins, and in all three of the places where Purdue won the first set via seven-point tiebreaker, they pushed their advantage into the second set and took the individual match. Butler did get a straight set win at #1, but Purdue finalized their win with a comeback at #6 singles to clinch their first win since January.
Women’s Results:
3/17: FINAL—San Diego State 4, #37 Purdue 3
|
#1 Doubles |
1 |
|
Fodor/Norman (PUR) |
4 |
|
Azziz/Melosch (SDSU) |
6 |
|
#2 Doubles |
1 |
|
Gallardo Guevara/Milic (PUR) |
4 |
|
Skrobonja/Velcea (SDSU) |
6 |
|
#3 Doubles |
1 |
|
Gibbs/Larranaga (PUR) |
6 |
|
Detkovskaya/Jordan (SDSU) |
2 |
|
#1 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Liz Norman (PUR) |
6 |
4 |
3 |
|
Andjela Skrobonja (SDSU) |
2 |
6 |
6 |
|
#2 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Csilla Fodor (PUR) |
6 |
3 |
2 |
|
Dariya Detkovskaya (SDSU) |
1 |
6 |
6 |
|
#3 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Carmen Gallardo Guevara (PUR) |
6 |
4 |
6 |
|
Alicia Melosch (SDSU) |
3 |
6 |
0 |
|
#4 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Tara Katarina Milic (PUR) |
6 |
6 |
|
|
Rania Azziz (SDSU) |
4 |
2 |
|
|
#5 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Kennedy Gibbs (PUR) |
7 |
4 |
3 |
|
Cecile Morin (SDSU) |
5 |
6 |
6 |
|
#6 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Juana Larranaga (PUR) |
6 |
4 |
6 |
|
Andreea Velcea (SDSU) |
2 |
6 |
3 |
This match was not totally necessary for a successful season, but while the loss itself won’t be terrible, the way Purdue lost leaves somewhat of a bad taste in my mouth. Seeing as this was Purdue’s first road match of the season, this was an opportunity to prove that they could play well away from Schwartz Tennis Center, and it looked fine for a while. Doubles play proved a bit troublesome, and while the #3 pairing took their match without too many problems, both of the other pairings got broken one too many times, and San Diego State took the doubles point. This would have been nice to have, but I wouldn’t have thought it entirely necessary, and I would have been confident in that after the first sets were played. The Boilermakers shook off the doubles results and performed a clean sweep of the first sets in singles. This should have given them opportunity to take charge of this match and lock down a solid road win, but just as soon as the proverbial switch turned on for effective singles play, it turned off during the second sets. San Diego State took five of the six second sets, and while the score was tied at one as a whole, that momentum shift was too much for Purdue to overcome. San Diego State took three of the five third sets, and that was enough to clinch the match.
3/24: FINAL—#7 Ohio State 4, #44 Purdue 0
|
#1 Doubles |
1 |
|
Fodor/Norman (PUR) |
3 |
|
#8 Cantos Siemers/Ratliff (OSU) |
6 |
|
#2 Doubles |
1 |
|
Gallardo Guevara/Milic (PUR) |
6 |
|
Bereznyak/Boulais (OSU) |
4 |
|
#3 Doubles |
1 |
|
Gibbs/Larranaga (PUR) |
1 |
|
Allen/Willson (OSU) |
6 |
|
#1 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Liz Norman (PUR) |
6 |
2 |
|
|
#21 Irina Cantos Siemers (OSU) |
7 |
2 |
|
*DID NOT FINISH
|
#2 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Csilla Fodor (PUR) |
7 |
0 |
|
|
#36 Sydni Ratliff (OSU) |
6 |
1 |
|
*DID NOT FINISH
|
#3 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Carmen Gallardo Guevara (PUR) |
1 |
5 |
|
|
Lucia Marzal (OSU) |
6 |
5 |
|
*DID NOT FINISH
|
#4 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Tara Katarina Milic (PUR) |
0 |
0 |
|
|
#91 Shelly Bereznyak (OSU) |
6 |
6 |
|
|
#5 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Kennedy Gibbs (PUR) |
1 |
4 |
|
|
Kolie Allen (OSU) |
6 |
6 |
|
|
#6 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Juana Larranaga (PUR) |
2 |
3 |
|
|
Danielle Willson (OSU) |
6 |
6 |
|
Honestly, this wasn’t too surprising. Given Purdue’s lack of proven success on the road and the quality of their opponent, I would have been shocked to see the Boilermakers win in Columbus. One of Purdue’s doubles pairings fared quite well, defeating its Ohio State counterpart. However, you need to win two individual doubles matches to take the point, and neither of Purdue’s other pairings were able to pull off the improbable, leading to Ohio State taking the doubles point. On one hand, I was happy to see that Liz Norman and Csilla Fodor were not intimidated by their top-40 opponents at the top two spots. Both of them forced seven point tiebreakers in the first set, with Csilla winning hers. On the other, I was disappointed that Purdue’s bottom half of the lineup card got totally trounced in their matches, leading to a fairly quick Ohio State victory and no chance for either Liz Norman or Csilla Fodor to finish an upset and make a case for their own singles ranking.
3/26: FINAL—#34 Illinois 4, #44 Purdue 1
|
#1 Doubles |
1 |
|
#28 Duong/Heuser (ILL) |
6 |
|
Fodor/Norman (PUR) |
1 |
|
#2 Doubles |
1 |
|
Casati/Frazier (ILL) |
4 |
|
Gallardo Guevara/Milic (PUR) |
5 |
*DID NOT FINISH
|
#3 Doubles |
1 |
|
Ferrari/Martinez (ILL) |
6 |
|
Gibbs/Larranaga (PUR) |
4 |
|
#1 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Kate Duong (ILL) |
4 |
6 |
6 |
|
Liz Norman (PUR) |
6 |
2 |
3 |
|
#2 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
#121 Ashley Yeah (ILL) |
1 |
2 |
|
|
Csilla Fodor (PUR) |
6 |
6 |
|
|
#3 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Megan Heuser (ILL) |
4 |
6 |
2 |
|
Carmen Gallardo Guevara (PUR) |
6 |
4 |
3 |
*DID NOT FINISH
|
#4 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Josie Frazier (ILL) |
6 |
6 |
|
|
Tara Katarina Milic (PUR) |
2 |
4 |
|
|
#5 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Kasia Treiber (ILL) |
7 |
6 |
|
|
Kennedy Gibbs (PUR) |
6 |
2 |
|
|
#6 Singles |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Kida Ferrari (ILL) |
3 |
6 |
2 |
|
Juana Larranaga (PUR) |
6 |
1 |
5 |
*DID NOT FINISH
This was the gate that Purdue needed to cross to be considered a serious NCAA contender, and they fell short again. Yet again, doubles play tripped up the Boilermakers, as Illinois took the point by winning at #1 and #3 doubles. On the positive side, Purdue seemed to recover pretty quickly once singles play, started, as they won four of the six first sets to put themselves in reasonably good shape to turn the match around. On the bad side, in a manner not terribly unlike the San Diego State match, they could not keep that momentum going into the second sets, losing five of six. At the point when all of the second sets were finished, the Fighting Illini held a 3-1 lead, so Purdue needed to win all three of the final sets to win the overall match. It looked as though the Boilermakers had taken some early leads, but Illinois clawed out a victory at #1 singles to clinch the overall match, and the remaining two singles matches went unfinished.
Extra Attention:
It may have been covered briefly already, but I couldn’t give this slot to anyone but the wrestling team, or more specifically, a couple of members of the wrestling team. This was not a good year for Purdue wrestling as a whole. When they lost their opening match to Rider, that should have been the warning sign, and things didn’t really recover from there, as Purdue finished dead last in the Big Ten and lost to Indiana for the first time since 2010. However, based on some reasoning that I don’t fully understand, Purdue was still able to send some wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament. The main star was Matt Ramos, although there were actually four wrestlers in Purdue’s contingent. Ramos had a pretty uneventful start, knocking off Stanford’s Nico Provo in the first round, North Carolina State’s Jarrett Trombley in the second round, and West Virginia’s Killian Cardinale in the quarterfinals. However, his next opponent was Iowa’s Spencer Lee, going for his fourth consecutive NCAA championship. Ramos made a massive pin in the last seconds to come out victorious, pulling off one of the biggest upsets in recent NCAA history. Although he would lose in the final round to Princeton’s Pat Glory, it was still a fantastic showing for Purdue’s ninth NCAA runner-up and sixtieth All-American. Another major success that kind of went under the radar was Parker Filius, competing in his final NCAA Tournament. He had pulled off a nice upset over North Carolina State’s Ryan Jack in the second round, and while he would lose in the quarterfinals, the rules mean you keep on wrestling for the potential to earn points and a more clear-cut method of ranking the competitors. By beating Ohio State’s Dylan D’Emilio, he earned Seventh Place overall and is another Purdue All-American.
Power Rankings:
Men:
#1 Ohio State (19-2, 2-0) (UP 1)
Last two weeks: @#67 Central Florida (4-0), #5 Michigan (4-2), @#23 Northwestern (4-1), @#21 Illinois (4-0)
#2 Michigan (15-2, 2-0) (DOWN 1)
Last two weeks: @#4 Ohio State (2-4), @#52 Wisconsin (5-2), @#45 Nebraska (4-0)
#3 Northwestern (12-7, 1-1) (NO CHANGE)
Last two weeks: #2 Ohio State (1-4), #63 Penn State (4-0), Chicago State (4-0)
#4 Illinois (13-8, 1-1) (NO CHANGE)
Last two weeks: ag Abilene Christian (4-0), @#42 Baylor (4-2), @#1 Texas Christian (1-4), #63 Penn State (4-0), #2 Ohio State (0-4)
#5 Nebraska (9-6, 1-1) (NO CHANGE)
Last two weeks: #74 Michigan State (5-2), #5 Michigan (0-4)
#6 Penn State (13-6, 0-2) (NO CHANGE)
Last two weeks: #28 Cornell (1-6), @#21 Illinois (0-4), @#23 Northwestern (0-4)
#7 Wisconsin (8-6, 1-1) (UP 1)
Last two weeks: #53 Pennsylvania (6-1), #5 Michigan (2-5), #74 Michigan State (5-2)
#8 Indiana (11-6, 1-0) (UP 1)
Last two weeks: @#38 California-Santa Barbara (3-4), @Purdue (7-0)
#9 Michigan State (6-9, 0-2) (DOWN 2)
Last two weeks: @#45 Nebraska (2-5), @#52 Wisconsin (2-5)
#10 Purdue (2-11, 0-1) (NO CHANGE)
Last two weeks: #72 Indiana (0-7), Butler (4-3)
Women:
#1 Michigan (13-3, 5-0) (NO CHANGE)
Last two weeks: #60 Iowa (4-0), @#63 Nebraska (4-1), @#19 Florida (1-4), #17 Wisconsin (5-2), Minnesota (4-0)
#2 Ohio State (12-5, 5-0) (NO CHANGE)
Last two weeks: #16 Wisconsin (7-0), Minnesota (4-0), #44 Purdue (4-0), @Northwestern (4-0)
#3 Wisconsin (14-4, 4-2) (NO CHANGE)
Last two weeks: ag Rutgers (5-2), @#9 Ohio State (0-7), @#48 Penn State (4-2), @#3 Michigan (2-5), @Michigan State (5-0)
#4 Illinois (11-5, 3-0) (NO CHANGE)
Last two weeks: @#57 Arizona (0-4), ag New Mexico State (5-0), @#44 Purdue (4-1)
#5 Penn State (10-9, 2-3) (UP 1)
Last two weeks: Minnesota (4-0), #16 Wisconsin (2-4), Indiana (7-0)
#6 Purdue (11-4, 2-2) (UP 1)
Last two weeks: @San Diego State (3-4), @#7 Ohio State (0-4), #34 Illinois (1-4)
#7 Maryland (13-3, 2-1) (UP 1)
Last two weeks: @Memphis (5-2), @Florida Atlantic (4-2), @Rutgers (6-1)
#8 Iowa (7-6, 2-1) (UP 2)
Last two weeks: @#3 Michigan (0-4), Michigan State (4-1), #63 Nebraska (4-1)
#9 Northwestern (5-10, 1-2) (NO CHANGE)
Last two weeks: @#10 Duke (0-7), #7 Ohio State (0-4)
#10 Nebraska (12-4, 1-2) (DOWN 5)
Last two weeks: #3 Michigan (1-4), @Michigan State (4-2), Creighton (4-0), @#54 Iowa (1-4)
#11 Indiana (10-6, 1-3) (UP 1)
Last two weeks: @Nevada-Las Vegas (4-3), @#48 Penn State (0-7)
#12 Michigan State (8-8, 1-4) (UP 2)
Last two weeks: @#60 Iowa (1-4), #63 Nebraska (2-4), Minnesota (4-0), #17 Wisconsin (0-5)
#13 Minnesota (5-11, 0-5) (DOWN 2)
Last two weeks: @#48 Penn State (0-4), @#9 Ohio State (0-4), @Michigan State (0-4), @#3 Michigan (0-4)
#14 Rutgers (9-6, 0-4) (DOWN 1)
Last two weeks: ag #16 Wisconsin (2-5), @Southern (7-0), #50 Maryland (1-6)
Upcoming Action:
Men's Tennis:
3/31: vs Illinois
4/2: vs Northwestern
4/7: @Wisconsin
4/9: @Nebraska
Well, Purdue’s first matchup against a Big Ten team this season went disastrously, and that was at home against a team that is expected to finish squarely in the bottom half of the conference. I have absolutely zero expectations for Big Ten play this year, with the main goal being to build experience for whoever will be returning in 2024.
Women's Tennis:
3/31: @Iowa
4/2: @Nebraska
4/8: vs Michigan
4/9: vs Michigan State
Big Ten play continues forward as the month changes, and this next week could be crucial for Big Ten Tournament seeding and any fleeting chance Purdue may yet have at a team NCAA berth. The Michigan match at home is going to be quite difficult, and while Purdue would benefit greatly from a home upset here, I don’t expect it. Michigan State is in the middle of a rebuild, and it isn’t going well enough at this point to avoid a position near the bottom of the Big Ten. Therefore, a home loss to them would be considered unacceptable. Where things get murkier is the week before that where Purdue travels to the conference’s western edge for matches against Iowa and Nebraska. Both of these teams are right below Purdue in the power rankings, so we will see how Purdue fares in challenging, but winnable road matches.
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