April 23, 2005
Iowa City, IA – The Iowa men’s tennis team snapped its losing skid and notched their second conference victory with a 4-3 win over Purdue on Saturday. Iowa used strong performances in the singles matches to secure the win.
Purdue struck first in the dual, taking the doubles point after winning two of the three matches. Purdue clinched the point at the No. 2 match when the Iowa doubles team of Chaitu Malempati and Aaron Schaechterle lost a 9-8 (7-2) decision. The score was 2-2 in the tiebreak, but Purdue ran off five consecutive points to win the match. At No. 3 doubles, Bart van Monsjou and J.P. Ritchie also took their match into a tiebreak. Down 4-1 in the tiebreak, van Monsjou and Ritchie rallied to score a 9-8 (7-5) victory and help Iowa attain some momentum heading into the singles matches.
Iowa started out hot in singles play and never looked back, taking four of the six matches. Ritchie and van Monsjou got it started for the Hawkeyes, winning their matches in straight sets at the No. 3 and No. 4 positions, respectively. Brett Taylor kept it going for Iowa, winning his match 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 at the No. 5 spot. With his win, Taylor improves to 14-5 in dual matches and 5-4 in conference play. The Hawkeyes clinched the dual with Malempati’s upset over 93rd-ranked Paul Rose at No. 1 singles, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
“This was a good win for us,” said Head Coach Steve Houghton. “Chaitu Malempati was big for us defeating a nationally-ranked opponent.”
Iowa (10-10, 2-7) returns to action on Sunday to face Illinois. The Illini currently sit at the top of the Big Ten standings and are ranked fourth nationally. Match time is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the City Park Courts.
RESULTS
IOWA 4
Purdue 3
Doubles
No. 1 Sounak/Koziell (PUR) def. Markham/Taylor (IOWA) 8-5
No. 2 Robinson/Rose (PUR) def. Malempati/Schaechterle (IOWA) 9-8 (2)
No. 3 Ritchie/van Monsjou (IOWA) def. Foster/Warner (PUR) 9-8 (5)
Singles
No. 1 Chaitu Malempati (IOWA) def. #93 Paul Rose (PUR) 6-4, 7-6 (4)
No. 2 David Robinson (PUR) def. Kyle Markham (IOWA) 7-6 (4), 6-3
No. 3 J.P. Ritchie (IOWA) def. Filip Koziell (PUR) 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 Bart van Monsjou (IOWA) def. Chatterjee Sounak (PUR) 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 Brett Taylor (IOWA) def. Colin Foster (PUR) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
No. 6 Scott Warner (PUR) def. Jonny Hoak (IOWA) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (8)