Purdue to play key weekend
matchups
By Doug Healey
Staff
Writer
The Purdue men's tennis team will play must-win
Big Ten Conference matches on Saturday and Sunday.
The No. 52 Boilers (13-6, 4-4 Big Ten) travel to
Michigan State (7-15, 1-7) for a 1 p.m. match on Saturday at the MSU
Outdoor Tennis Facility.
"The reality is, we must have two wins this weekend
for accomplishing the goals this team has set forward," said Purdue
coach Tim Madden. "When you put yourself in the situation where it's
time to win, I think it's time to look in the mirror and say we must
win, so we're gonna have to find a way to do that."
The Spartans have been shut out 10 times this season
and have only one conference victory, a 4-3 win over Penn State. They
are coming off a 5-2 loss to Iowa.
"Michigan State's record is weak and they are one
of the weaker teams in the conference, but the nice thing about our
conference is anything can happen," said Madden.
"Michigan State will be a dangerous team because
sooner or later they are going to reach a breaking point where they're
going to put it together," he said. "I don’t know what to expect."
The Boilers are hoping to finish high in the conference
standings.
"If we finish the weekend successful and things
fall in the conference like it should, we could finish as high as three,
and that would be with a 6-4 record," said Madden.
Attitude will also be important for the Boilermakers.
"The message for this weekend is, it's all about
attitude," said Madden. "If we can have the attitude that we control
our own destiny, then I think we're going to be successful. But if we
play not to lose and like we are playing under pressure, then we're
going to be in trouble. It's time to focus more on attitude and mental
preparation, so we're doing all of the fine tuning and the things that
will help us create that mental edge."
The Boilers are still looking for a consistent
match in singles and doubles play.
"We need to continue working on the things that
are getting us so close to that breakthrough, and that is putting together
and finishing the job in singles," said Madden. "We need to do it across
the board before we feel like we're ready to make a run at a Big Ten
title. We saw better signs of it against Penn State. We're not ready
right now, and Michigan State can help us do that. We need to get it
together one through six singles."
On Sunday, the Boilers travel to face No. 49 Michigan
(10-8, 4-4) at noon. The Wolverines started 0-3 in the conference but
have won four of their last five Big Ten matches.
One of the spots the Boilers have had trouble with
is consistency at No. 6 singles. Dan Swan, Troy Havens and Laith Al-Agba
have all rotated, but Madden said Al-Agba will play No. 6 singles.
"Laith is one of the guys who has started off solid
and finished off even stronger," said Madden. "That's what we are looking
for in our singles. We don’t want to start well. We want to finish
well. We're going to go after the win."
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