Boilers open tennis season
against Western Michigan
 By
Matt Ryan
Staff Writer
The Purdue men's tennis team is looking to get
off to a good start in its spring opener against Western Michigan this
weekend.
The teams face off at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Lafayette
Sports center.
Last year the men's team was defeated in a somewhat
crushing loss to Western Michigan in the spring season opener.
"(The loss) was a wakeup call for the whole team;
we realized we had to work a little harder to beat the big teams," said
coach Tim Madden. "It was good for us because we came back and did well
in the next seven matches."
Last season the team was a little inexperienced,
said Madden.
"We were not ready," he said. "We had a young team;
three freshmen in the lineup, a couple of sophomores and a junior, that
was our top six."
With every one of last year's starters returning,
this season looks a lot more promising for the men's tennis team.
Madden, however, thinks that Western Michigan is
not a team to be underestimated.
"Western Michigan is a team that has been in and
out of the national rankings, so they are a serious national level team
— one that we cannot take lightly, even though it is our season
opener," said Madden. "They took it to us and beat us in our opener.
This year we have everybody back and hopefully we can rise to the occasion."
Sophomore Scott Mayer thinks the team is up to
the challenge this weekend.
"We have had a good week of practice so far and
we just need to keep that intensity up for the matches this weekend,"
said Mayer. "I think we are a stronger team this year and if everyone
comes out and shows up to play, I think we are a better team than them
and we should come out on top."
Madden thinks they have to come out strong and
get on top early to be successful.
"We are going to try to assert some energy into
the doubles and get a step ahead of our opponents and hopefully we'll
have success against Western Michigan," he said.
Mayer thinks this season could be one to remember
if everything goes as planned.
"If all the pieces fall together and everybody
works hard, we certainly could do a lot of special things," said Mayer.
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