April 15, 2005

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's tennis team returns home this weekend for matches against Wisconsin on April 16, and Northwestern on April 17. The matches will mark the last two at home in the careers of Purdue seniors Sounak Chatterjee, Filip Koziell and David Robinson.

The trio is looking to lead its team to two wins, but the task will not be easy. The Boilermakers (3-12, 0-6 Big Ten), are still riding some rocky road, having lost nine straight since upsetting No. 17 Vanderbilt at the Lafayette Sports Center on Feb. 26. They still are in search of their first Big Ten win in almost a year.

Purdue should have a chance to end the streak Saturday, when it entertains the Badgers at the Varsity Tennis Courts. Wisconsin is 7-11 overall and 1-6 in Big Ten play. Though the Badgers lost to Rice their last time out, they recorded a 7-0 upset of No. 57 Minnesota in Minneapolis in their last Big Ten match on April 8.

The Boilermakers have won two out of the last three and seven of the last nine in their series with Wisconsin. The Badgers won the last meeting in Madison, but the last meeting in Lafayette resulted in a Purdue victory.

Purdue head coach Tim Madden, who played at Wisconsin, wants his team to take advantage of the opportunity of playing the Badgers in front of their home crowd.

"We're at home, we're rested, the weather will be great. There should be no reason for us not to compete like we're capable of," Madden says.

Regardless of what happens against Wisconsin, the Boilermakers quickly will have to turn their attention to Northwestern. The 57th-ranked Wildcats, winners of three straight, own a 9-10 overall record and a 4-3 Big Ten mark heading into a match at No. 4 Illinois on April 16. Northwestern has won the last two meetings with Purdue, but the Boilermakers have won three straight against the Wildcats in Lafayette/West Lafayette. Not since Feb. 28, 1998, has Northwestern won on Purdue's home court.

Madden knows his players will have to be prepared to fight in order to beat the two teams coming into town.

"Wisconsin and Northwestern are good teams, and we will have to compete at a very high level in order to be successful against them," Madden says. "We have to get six of our guys to compete hard from start to finish."

Both matches are scheduled to begin at noon. In case of cold, rainy or windy weather conditions, the match will be moved indoors to the Lafayette Sports Center.

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