Purdue Northwest Off To Best Start in Program History with Win Over NCC
The Purdue University Northwest men’s tennis team continued to build on the best start in program history with a convincing 8-1 nonconference win over visiting North Central College Saturday at Match Point.
Under the leadership of first-year head coach Lucian Tabic, the Pride (4-0) remained unbeaten with the win, and the four victories tied the Pride for the most in school history since then-Purdue Calumet went 4-9 in 2011-12.
PNW swept doubles play, with freshman duo Moritz Gisy (Duesseldorf, Germany) and Maurcio Villacres (Guayquil, Ecuador) topping NCC’s Victor Krueger and Connor Sass, 8-4, at the No. 1 spot. PNW’s Ulf Grosseloh (Maximilansau, Germany) and Diego Pimentel (Guayaquil, Ecuador) and Jonluke Passett (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) and Patrick Mudd (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) then defeated NCC at the No. 2 and 3 doubles slots, respectively, winning 8-4, and 8-0.
In singles, Grosseloh defeated NCC’s Krueger in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6, at the No. 1 spot, while teammate Gisy topped Sass at the No. 2 slot, 6-2, 6-0. Villacres, Pimentel, and Passett also won in straight sets at the No. 3, 4, and 5 singles’ spots, respectively.
North Central College (1-1) scored its lone point at No. 6 singles, with Tyler Haizel’s straight-set win over PNW’s James Newman (Orland Park, Ill./Oak Forest).
PNW returns to action Sunday, Feb. 19, with a home nonleague contest against St. Joseph’s College (Ind.).
Thompson's Career-Performance Leads PNW Past Holy Cross, 82-77 Behind a career-high performance from senior point guard Darien Thompson, the No. 15 Purdue University Northwest women’s basketball team held off a scrappy Holy Cross College, 82-77, Saturday on the road.
Thompson (Anderson, Ind./Anderson) poured in a career-best 35 points, aided by a perfect 17-for-17 performance at the free-throw line. PNW teammate Cassidy Deno (Otterbein, Ind./Benton Central) added 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists and junior post Ellie Michalski (Muwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) chipped in 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go with eight rebounds.
PNW (21-7, 16-3 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference) used a near-flawless effort at the charity stripe (25-of-28, 89.3 percent) to eke out the win late, as the Saints (9-19, 7-12) led by four, 68-64, with 3:02 to play in the game.
But Thompson would score a three-point play the old-fashioned way to answer the Saints’ charge, followed by two big free throws from PNW teammate Jessica Kiser (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) that gave the Pride a one-pont lead with 2:16 to go. A clutch triple from Thompson followed, and Purdue Northwest would hit all 10 of its free throws – eight of those by Thompson – in the final 49 seconds to seal its 16th conference win.
PNW trailed, 42-41, at halftime, but used a 19-point third frame to head into the fourth quarter up, 60-52. The Pride led by as many as 10, 62-52, when Michaela Kikendall (Morristown, Ind./Morristown) hit a jumper at the 8:53 mark. But the Saints didn’t go away, as HCC – fueled by three 3-pointers, two from Jessica Norris – executed a 16-2 run over the next five minutes to take that four-point lead.
PNW shot just 39.7 percent (25-of-63) for the game compared to 49.2 percent (29-of-59) for Holy Cross, and the Saints hit 12-of-30 from downtown compared to 7-of-14 for PNW.
Kiser, in a starting role for the first time this season, contributed an all-around game for the Pride, finishing with six points, four assists and a career-high 10 rebounds.
Five players scored in double-figures for Holy Cross, led by 20 points and 13 rebounds from Shana Anderson.
Purdue Northwest returns to action Wednesday, Feb. 15, when the Pride host Trinity Christian in their final regular-season home game. Game time at the James B. Dworkin Center in Westville is set for 5 p.m. CT.
Purdue Northwest Off To Best Start in Program History with Win Over NCC The Purdue University Northwest men’s tennis team continued to build on the best start in program history with a convincing 8-1 nonconference win over visiting North Central College Saturday at Match Point.
Under the leadership of first-year head coach Lucian Tabic, the Pride (4-0) remained unbeaten with the win, and the four victories tied the Pride for the most in school history since then-Purdue Calumet went 4-9 in 2011-12.
PNW swept doubles play, with freshman duo Moritz Gisy (Duesseldorf, Germany) and Maurcio Villacres (Guayquil, Ecuador) topping NCC’s Victor Krueger and Connor Sass, 8-4, at the No. 1 spot. PNW’s Ulf Grosseloh (Maximilansau, Germany) and Diego Pimentel (Guayaquil, Ecuador) and Jonluke Passett (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) and Patrick Mudd (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) then blanked NCC at the No. 2 and 3 doubles slots, respectively, winning 8-0 in both matches.
In singles, Grosseloh defeated NCC’s Krueger in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6, at the No. 1 spot, while teammate Gisy topped Sass at the No. 2 slot, 6-2, 6-0. Villacres, Pimentel, and Passett also won in straight sets at the No. 3, 4, and 5 singles’ spots, respectively.
North Central College (1-1) scored its lone point at No. 6 singles, with Tyler Haizel’s straight-set win over PNW’s James Newman (Orland Park, Ill./Oak Forest).
PNW returns to action Sunday, Feb. 19, with a home nonleague contest against St. Joseph’s College (Ind.).
