Feb. 15, 2009

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The No. 73 Maryland men's tennis suffered its first home loss of the season in a 4-3 defeat to Purdue, at the Tennis Center at College Park.

All six Terrapins (3-3, 0-1) that played earned wins, but unfortunately for the Terps all six also experienced losses, four of which came at singles. Purdue (3-4) earned victories at each of the top four singles spots.

Maryland started out well, winning the doubles point for the fourth time this season. Things started off with the usual great performance for the Terps from the No. 35-ranked doubles team of Andrew Orban and Boris Fetbroyt.

Orban and Fetbroyt dismissed Slavko Bijelica and Griff Nienberg quickly, winning 8-2. Nickolai Nielsen and David Kwon added a doubles vitory of their own to clinch the point for the Terps, defeating Branko Kuzmanovic and J.P. Rose, 8-6.

The members of Maryland's one losing doubles team, Alex Aksanov and Mathias Sarrazin, were the only two Terps to win at singles. Sarrazin, facing Purdue senior Rose, took his first lead at 4-3 of the first set, before breaking Rose's serve to take the set 7-5. Sarrazin cruised to the victory in the second set, winning 7-5, 6-1.

Aksanov found himself down 3-4 in the first set to senior Griff Nienberg, but rattled off three straight games to win the first, 6-4. Aksanov played hard in the second set but lost, 3-6. He went on to win in the third set tie-breaker, taking three straight points to win, 10-7.

The Terps played tough, even in their four lost singles matches. Of the four matches, two players were defeated in two sets, and a third lost in a tie-break.

Maryland junior David Kwon faced off with Eric Ramos, and mixed in just the right amount of drop shots to keep Ramos off-balance. Kwon dropped the first set, but in the second set he capitalized on the opportunities he missed in the first, winning 6-2. Kwon couldn't keep the streak alive, though, losing in the third, 4-6, 6-2, 4-6.

Terrapin Boris Fetbroyt played one of the best matches of the day at number four singles, but couldn't come out on top against Purdue's Roberto Cabrini. Fetbroyt got off to a slow start at singles, losing his first set. The Maryland senior turned the tides in the second, streaking to a second set win with a series of break points.

Fetbroyt went down early in the third, trailing 2-5 and knowing his loss would clinch the match for Purdue. Fetbroyt battled back, breaking Cabrini's serve, then holding his own to draw to 4-5. But Fetbroyt couldn't break one more time, as he fell, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

The Terps will be back in action next weekend, as they play host to Villanova on Saturday and George Washington on Sunday, with both matches being played at the Tennis Center at College Park at 12 p.m.

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