The IU men’s tennis team defeated their in-state arch rival Purdue on Wednesday with a convincing 4-0 victory.
This marks the first time IU Coach Jeremy Wurtzman, who was hired this season, has beaten Purdue.
“Obviously this is the start of my coaching career at IU,” Wurtzman said. “In the short time that I’ve been here, I know the extreme rivalry we have with Purdue. That match is obviously a big match for our program and school.”
With the win, the Hoosiers have matched their win total from a year ago and have two more conference wins than last year.
“I think a lot of the guys have really bought in and have done a great job this year,” Wurtzman said. “I think the leadership from the upperclassmen, like Sven Lalic being a senior, has really led the way very well, and we’re hoping to send him out on a high note here and hopefully have a great weekend and a great Big Ten Tournament.”
The Hoosiers are now in fifth place in the conference and can improve with two Big Ten matches left.
“It obviously was a big win when you play an in-state rival, a Big Ten rival like Purdue is,” Wurtzman said. “There is obviously added pressure that goes into that match. I felt like it was great to get off to a good start and to win 4-0.”
The Hoosiers got off to a strong start against a struggling Purdue team by winning the doubles point, and they never looked back.
“Of course the doubles was a big point for us,” Wurtzman said. “I liked our chances once we went up 1-0, and then we won a lot of first sets throughout
the match.”
Then in singles, IU won three straight points to close out the match. IU junior Daniel Bednarczyk defeated Ricky Medinilla 6-2, 6-4. Junior Elliott Yee defeated Matt Bouggy 6-1, 6-0. Standout freshman Raheel Manji sealed the win by defeating Arthur Dobradin 6-1, 6-3.
“I think being a midweek match — and we just came off a big win against Penn State Sunday and we got back late Sunday night — I think it was nice that we didn’t have a letdown and got after it and played pretty good tennis,” Wurtzman said.
IU will look to continue their momentum when it plays Michigan at 4 p.m. Friday at home.
While Wurtzman accomplished multiple milestones, he is keeping his team grounded.
“I don’t think we’re focused on how many wins we have,” Wurtzman said. “I think we’re just focused on making the NCAA Tournament.”
