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IllustrateD volume 24, issue 5
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BY KYLE CHARTERS
KCharters@GoldandBlack.com
A
aron Dujovne thought his coach was a little
cuckoo.
Four years ago, the then-freshman heard big talk
from Coach Pawel Gajdzik.
"When we got here the first year, we weren't ranked,
out of the top 75, and I remember him saying, the first
(time he talked to us), 'I want this program to become
the No. 1 program in the nation, I want to win the Big
Ten, I want to win the NCAAs and I want to be a pow-
erhouse.' But I was like 'But we are not even in the
top-75,' you know?" said Dujovne, now one of three
seniors for the resurgent men's tennis program.
"… At that point I was like 'Yeah, right.' When he
was saying that, we went out to play and wouldn't do so
well, so it was like 'Eh, maybe not.' But with this vision
that he has, and the new recruits and us getting more
mature, it makes sense. We can actually make it."
The ultimate — and
Gajdzik isn't shy about
dreaming big — might
be years away still, but
this season has brought
the Boilermakers a step
closer. Purdue is playing
its best tennis in years,
perhaps ever, reaching a
program historical-best
M e n ' s T e n n I s U P D A T e
Rising Up
Tennis program hitting new heights
Purdue
In his five seasons at
Purdue, Pawel Gajdzik,
center with is 2014 team,
has built the Boilermakers
into a Big Ten contender.
It's poised to make the
NCAA Tournament this
May for the first time since
2002.
Kyle Charters
The dry-erase board in the
men's tennis team lounge out-
lines the focus for the program.
Gajdzik isn't shy about setting
lofty goals for his team and
has done so since arriving at
Purdue five years ago.
