Men's tennis falls to Purdue

Before Wednesday, the last time IU lost to Purdue, IU Coach Randy Bloemendaal was coaching at Charleston Southern University. That was eight years ago.

The Hoosiers lost to Purdue 5-2 Wednesday.

“We got our first road win last week in Iowa,” Bloemendaal said. “Purdue is a pretty hot team. Winning today was not going to be an easy task.”

The match started well for the Hoosiers. With wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles, IU claimed the doubles point. Purdue was just 1-3 in matches where they lost the doubles point this season.

IU won the first set in five of six singles matches.

“We were up the point of doubles and we won first sets,” Bloemendaal said. “Guys were playing well. It was still going to be a tough match, but we definitely had the momentum.”

The Hoosiers then lost the second set in five of six singles matches and all four third sets that were played.

“We just didn’t have the same energy to start the second,” Bloemendaal said. “We were a little tight carrying the lead for about five to 10
minutes.”

Wednesday marked the sixth time this season IU has failed to win after winning the doubles point.

“There wasn’t a defining thing that Purdue did,” Bloemendaal said. “We played well in first and had to carry leads, and I didn’t see every court, but it looked like we let them back in the match. We haven’t carried leads well all year.”

The only Hoosier to win in singles was sophomore Samuel Monette, winning 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2.

“Sam did a great job out there,” Bloemendaal said. “After he won the first set he just came out with the same energy. He didn’t raise his game, just stayed consistent.”
Purdue’s singles lineup boasted four players with at least three years of Division I experience. IU has just one starter with that amount of experience, senior Dimitrije Tasic.

“We needed our leader to step up big time today,” Bloemendaal said. “He is definitely feeling it right now.”

It looked like IU might still come away with the victory late, with Purdue leading the overall match 3-2. Sophomore Daniel Bednarczyk trailed 5-2 in the third set. Purdue senior Mark Kovacs needed just one more game to clinch the match for the Boilermakers.

“Kovacs is having a great year,” Bloemendaal said. “He’s won a lot of tough matches this season. There were a lot of defining moments in the second set of that match.”

He came back and tied it 5-5 in the third set. Sophomore Elliott Yee was also tied 5-5 in his third set. Bloemendaal said he felt like the match was there for the taking at that moment.

Bednarczyk and Yee lost their third sets 7-5 and 7-6, respectively, sealing the victory for Purdue.

“There was no doubt about how hard we fought out there today,” Bloemendaal said. “We came really close to beating a really good team that wanted to beat us more than anything. That’s Indiana versus Purdue.”?