Michigan
Purdue
Michigan Cruises Past Purdue in Road Finale
4/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Site: West Lafayette, Ind. (Schwartz Tennis Center)
Score: Michigan 6, Purdue 1
Records: U-M (10-13, 4-4 Big Ten), Purdue (7-13, 1-7 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Saturday, April 18 -- vs. Illinois (Varsity Tennis Center), Noon
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The No. 49-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team closed out its road schedule with a convincing 6-1 victory over Purdue on Sunday afternoon (April 12) at the Schwartz Tennis Center. The Wolverines (10-13, 4-4 Big Ten) claimed their 13th doubles point of the season and followed with wins at the top five singles positions to clinch their fifth straight victory over the Boilermakers.
Purdue struck first in doubles with an 8-5 win at No. 2, but senior Peter Aarts (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane HS) and junior Mike Sroczynski (Chatham, N.J./Laurel Springs School) answered with an 8-5 victory over Paul Foley and Eric Ramos at No. 3 to even up the competition. Since being paired together on March 28, Aarts and Sroczynski have won four of their five matches.
U-M's No. 51-ranked tandem of junior George Navas (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Preparatory School) and sophomore Jason Jung (Torrance, Calif./West Torrance HS) used a late surge to complete a big 8-6 triumph over Slavko Bijelica and Griff Nienberg at No. 1 that clinched the first team point for the Maize and Blue.
Sroczynski got the Wolverines off to a fast start in singles play as he secured a quick 6-3, 6-3 win over Ramos, which marked his second straight victory at the No. 3 position. The Boilermakers answered with a straight-set win at No. 6, but sophomore Chris Madden (Lotus, Calif./Ponderosa HS) swung the momentum back into Michigan's favor with a dominating 6-2, 6-3 decision over P.J. Rose at No. 4. Madden stands at 19-9 overall and is the only U-M player to go unbeaten in the Big Ten Conference this season (8-0).
Jung's 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 triumph over Bijelica at No. 1 sent the Wolverines home with the team victory and extended his winning streak to four matches. Sophomore/freshman Drew Daniel (Overland Park, Kan./Laurel Springs School) kept things rolling with a 6-2, 6-7(7), 1-0(6) win over Roberto Cabrini at No. 5 for his team-leading 16th dual-match victory, and senior Andrew Mazlin (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) came back to defeat Branko Kuzmanovic at No. 2, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(1), for U-M's sixth and final team point.
The Wolverines close out their regular-season schedule next weekend at the Varsity Tennis Center. Michigan will host Illinois on Saturday (April 18) at noon and Indiana on Sunday (April 19) at 1 p.m. Michigan will honor Aarts, Mazlin and fellow senior Mike DePietro (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser HS) prior to its match against the Hoosiers.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #98 Jason Jung (U-M) d. Slavko Bijelica, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
No. 2 -- Andrew Mazlin (U-M) d. Branko Kuzmanovic, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(1)
No. 3 -- Mike Sroczynski (U-M) d. Eric Ramos, 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 -- Chris Madden (U-M) d. P.J. Rose, 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 -- Drew Daniel (U-M) d. Roberto Cabrini, 6-2, 6-7(7), 1-0(6)
No. 6 -- Griff Nienberg (Purdue) d. Peter Aarts, 6-4, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1 -- #51 Jung/George Navas (U-M) d. Bijelica/Nienberg, 8-6
No. 2 -- Kuzmanovic/Rose (Purdue) d. Madden/Mazlin, 8-5
No. 3 -- Aarts/Sroczynski (U-M) d. Paul Foley/Ramos, 8-5
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-3-1, Singles 3-6-4-1-5-2
Players Mentioned
