Jan. 26, 2008

West Lafayette - The Marquette University men's tennis team (2-1) saw a valiant rally fall just short Saturday afternoon in a 4-3 non-conference loss at Purdue (1-0).

Trailing 3-0, the Golden Eagles rattled off a trio of singles wins to knot the score at 3-3 and forced the match to be decided at No. 2 singles. Purdue's Slavko Bijelica, however, was able to seal the victory for the Boilermakers by defeating MU junior Trent Hagan 6-3, 4-6, 7-6.

After failing to collect the doubles point and falling at No. 1 and No. 3 singles, it appeared Purdue was going to make quick work of the Golden Eagles. Sophomore Mark Rutherford's 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 5 got Marquette on the board and teammates Niko Boulieris and Brett Binkley followed Rutherford's lead.

Boulieris dispatched of Eric Ramos 6-4, 7-6 and Binkley survived a hard-fought 7-6, 7-6 decision over Eren Turkmenler at the No. 6 position. Purdue moved ahead 1-0 after claiming the valuable doubles point. The Boilermaker duo of Eric Ramos and Paul Foley claimed the first match of the day by posting an 8-4 win over MU's Stephen Shao and Pete Van Lieshout. Purdue secured the point with an 8-6 decision at No. 3 doubles, downing the Golden Eagle duo of Dusan Medan and Trent Hagan.

The doubles defeats were the first of the young dual match season for Marquette.

The Golden Eagles will continue their weekend road swing at No. 58 Louisville Sunday afternoon before returning home for six-straight dual matches.

Tennis Match Results
Marquette vs Purdue
Jan 26, 2008 at West Lafayette, Ind.







Purdue 4, Marquette 3
Singles competition:
1. Branko Kuzmanovic (PURDUE) def. Dusan Medan (MU) 6-4, 6-1
2. Slavko Bijelica (PURDUE) def. Trent Hagan (MU) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6
3. Patrick Rose (PURDUE) def. Stephen Shao (MU) 6-3, 6-2
4. Niko Boulieris (MU) def. Eric Ramos (PURDUE) 6-4, 7-6
5. Mark Rutherford (MU) def. Paul Foley (PURDUE) 6-4, 6-2
6. Brett Binkley (MU) def. Eren Turkmenier (PURDUE) 7-6, 7-6
Doubles competition:
1. Branko Kuzmanovic/Slavko Bijelica (PURDUE) def. Brett Binkley/Mark Rutherford (MU) 8-7
2. Eric Ramos/Paul Foley (PURDUE) def. Stephen Shao/Pete Van Lieshout (MU) 8-4
3. Patrick Rose/Jose Fuenmayor (PURDUE) def. Trent Hagan/Dusan Medan (MU) 8-6
Match Notes:
Marquette 2-1
Purdue 1-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (1,3,5,4,6,2)