No. 62 Hawkeyes Rally Their Way to Victory

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana – The University of Iowa men’s tennis team rallied to win their second consecutive Big Ten match with a 4-3 comeback victory over No. 60 Purdue. Although the Boilermakers (10-8 overall, 1-3 in conference) once led five of six singles matches, juniors Marc Bruche and Tom Mroziewicz claimed victories in three sets as No. 62 Iowa (8-6, 2-2) upended Purdue outdoors at the Schwartz Tennis Center.

After beating Penn State by a 4-3 margin in their last action, Iowa’s match against Purdue would have a similar fate, but the score came courtesy of a thundering rally by the Hawkeyes this time. Purdue won three of the first four singles match to take a 3-2 advantage before Bruche and Mroziewicz rallied after losing their first sets.

“That was a great comeback for us,” said head coach Steve Houghton. “We lost five first sets and were down 3-2 with two matches left, and Marc Bruche and Tom Mroziewicz came through against a ranked team on the road.”

In No. 1 singles, Bruche’s victory tied the team score at 3-3. Bruche dropped the first set 6-4 against Szymon Tatarczyk, but finished in dominating fashion with consecutive 6-1 victories in the final two sets. Bruche earned his ninth singles victory of the season with the win.

Feeding of the momentum, Mroziewicz also finished strong to knock off Powel Poziomski in No. 6 singles. Mroziewicz dropped a close first set by a7-6 margin in extra games, but cruised to 6-4, 6-3 set victories to clinch the comeback win from the Black and Gold.

“I give Tom and Marc a lot of credit. Each were down a set, and played great in the third set to win,” said Houghton. “Once again the doubles point was big for us also.” Sophomore Garret Dunn won the other singles match for Iowa, beating Aaron Dujovne handily in the No. 5 singles match to stay a perfect 4-0 in Big Ten action. Dunn won 6-2, 6-2 as Iowa split singles results with the Boilermakers 3-3, as the Hawkeyes advantage in doubles to start the match was the difference-maker.

Purdue won the first doubles match, but the Hawkeyes claimed No. 1 and No. 3 doubles victories to take a 1-0 team lead. Bruche and junior Will Vasos earned a win in No. 1 doubles to even things up. The duo defeated Eric Ramos and Krisztian Krockso by an 8-4 margin. Bruche and Vasos have a team-high nine doubles wins on the season.

Dunn and Mroziewicz secured the doubles point for Iowa with an 8-4 advantage as well. The duo topped Dujovne and Mark Kovacs to improve their doubles record to 4-2 on the season. It is the second victory of the season that came from consecutive third-set singles wins for Iowa, after beating Illinois State 4-3 earlier this season from a similar comeback.

Iowa will play again tomorrow, facing No. 29 Indiana (16-4, 3-0) in Bloomington. Start time is set for noon.

No. 62 Iowa 4,No. 60 Purdue 3

SinglesMarc Bruche (IOWA) def. Szymon Tatarczyk (PU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-1Krisztian Krockso (PU) def. Will Vasos (IOWA) 6-2, 6-2Mark Kovacs (PU) def. Nikita Zotov (IOWA) 6-2, 7-5Eric Ramos (PU) def. Austen Kauss (IOWA) 6-1, 6-0Garret Dunn (IOWA) def. Aaron Dujovne (PU) 6-2, 6-2Tom Mroziewicz (IOWA) def. Powel Poziomski (PU) 6-7, 7-4, 7-3

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