WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (1/20/18) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's tennis team suffered a 6-1 setback at Purdue University on Saturday evening in the Hoosier State.
The lone Titan (0-2) win came from the No. 2 position in singles as junior
Nathan Ponton recorded a straight-set sweep over Javier Rodriguez, 6-3, 6-4.
The Boilermakers (2-2) from the Big Ten earned the early edge by taking the doubles point. Athell Bennett and Gergely Madarasz topped Ponton and sophomore
Artem Vasheshnikov, 6-2, from No. 1.
Rodriguez and Stephan Koenigsfest clinched the doubles point for Purdue with a 6-3 win over
Alvaro Arce and
Luka Soskic at No. 2. With the point clinched, No. 3 doubles was called off with
Gvidas Motuzas and
Adam Zychowicz trailing 5-4.
At No. 1 singles, Vasheshnikov recovered from a slow start and took his counterpart, Gergely Madarasz, to a third-set tiebreaker, but could not pull it out dropping a 6-1, 6-7 (1), 1-0 (3) battle.
The other close singles match was at No. 4 as Arce went to a third set and was upended 7-6 (2), 4-6, 1-0 (2).
Detroit Mercy will be back in action in two weeks as the red, white and blue start a four-match homestand against Wayne State (Feb. 2), Findlay (Feb. 3), Chicago State (Feb. 9) and Niagara (Feb. 10), all at the Franklin Athletic Club in Southfield.
