A Look at Boilermaker Tennis

I won’t sit here and pretend that I’m some sort of tennis savant or that I follow Purdue tennis incredibly close, I’m not gonna lie to you my dear reader, but what I will say is when it comes to sports I’ll paraphrase Issa Rae and say “I’m rooting for everybody black and old gold.” That’s just the way it is. I don’t have separate schools for separate sports and I know you all don’t either. So instead of spending all summer focusing on spring football and the comings and goings of the basketball team we here at Hammer and Rails are trying something out. We are gonna look at the non-revenue sports, sometimes called the Olympic sports, going on around Purdue.

Purdue men’s and women’s tennis teams play at the top notch Schwartz Tennis Center. It’s a really nice facility that was opened in 2006, during my time at Purdue. There are 6 indoor courts and 12 outdoor courts. If you’re into tennis I’d definitely recommend going to check it out. They’ve got a nice pro shop as well that has some good gear. Definitely worth a look.

For those that aren’t aware, team tennis is played much the same way in college as it was in your local high school. In college generally 3 doubles teams are sent out with whichever schools wins 2 of 3 matchups earning the doubles point. The singles players then go out and compete for one point each.

Now, how are the men and women doing this year? Let’s take them one at a time shall we?

Men’s Tennis

I’d love to say that things are going great for the men and that they are taking the Big Ten by storm. Unfortunately, that would be a lie, and as we established at the top dear reader, I’m not going to lie to you. The Purdue men’s tennis squad sits at 2-17 on the season with their wins coming against IUPUI and Butler. They’ve yet to win a contest in the Big Ten. It should be noted that like a lot of other sports, the Big Ten has some pretty good teams with many of them being ranked. Purdue’s most recent opponent, the Michigan Wolverines, are currently ranked #6 in the nation. Purdue lost 0-4 to the Wolverines.

The men have just two matches left before the Big Ten Tournament as they will face off against Ohio State on Friday and then Penn State on Sunday. Both matches are on the road.

Women’s Tennis

The Purdue women could hardly be more different than the Purdue men. The women sit at 15-6 on the season and 6-4 in conference play. The women have taken down two ranked teams on the season with wins against #46 Maryland and #71 Nebraska. They are also winners of their last three matches. All three of these matches were in Big Ten play and included wins over Michigan State, IU, and Minnesota. Purdue has just one regular season match left as they take on the Badgers from Wisconsin in Madison on Sunday. Then it’s off to the Big Ten Tournament.