March 2, 2008

Results

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Michigan State men's tennis team fell to the Purdue Boilermakers, 6-1, at the Schwartz Tennis Center in West Lafayette, Ind., on Sunday. The Spartans (11-5) are now 0-2 in Big Ten play. For MSU, No. 21 Nick Rinks and Adam Monich extended their unbeaten streak, defeating Branko Kuzmanovic and Slavko Bijelica, 8-6, at No. 1 doubles, and are now 10-0 in dual-match play this season.

Purdue picked up the doubles point after MSU's Alex Forger and Billy Gardner lost to Purdue's Eric Ramos and P.J. Rose at No. 2, 8-6. John Allare and Scott Rasmussen also fell at No. 3, to Purdue's Griff Nienberg and Jose Fuemayor, (8-6), giving the Boilermakers the 1-0 lead.

Rinks picked up the only win for the Spartans at No. 1 singles, as he took out Kuzmanovic, 6-3, 6-2. MSU's Monich lost his bout at No. 4 singles, and was beaten by Ramos, 5-7, 6-1, 1-0 (10-6). The loss in only Monich's second of the season, as he now stands at 12-2 in dual-match play.

"I just think we weren't there today, mentally or physically," said MSU head coach Gene Orlando. "Not taking anything away from Purdue, they came out and competed hard and played some real good tennis. But I feel like we looked a little fatigued today, and we just didn't come out with the energy we've been playing with all year. We just weren't as strong as we are capable of."

The Spartans return to action on Wednesday, March 12 as they travel to Ann Arbor for a showdown with No. 19 Michigan.