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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 22 • 27 BY TRAVIS BAUGH TBaugh@Purdue.edu Coach Pawel Gajdzik's men's tennis team has endured a rough stretch this spring. The Boilermakers have lost six consecutive matches after Friday's 7-0 loss to No. 5 Baylor, a big fall from last year's team that earned a ranking as high as No. 28 nation- ally, beat nine ranked teams and helped end Purdue's 12-year NCAA Tournament drought. "Since I started at Purdue, we were trying to get the schedule stronger and stronger ever year," said Gajdzik, whose team is No. 55. "It's unfortunate that right now when we're in a rebuilding year we have the strongest schedule yet." Purdue has struggled to re- place a talented senior class of Szymon Tatarczyk, Mark Kovacs and Aaron Dujovne, a trio that combined to go 36-22 last spring as Purdue's No. 1, 3 and 4 singles players, respectively. "We're a rebuilding program," Diego Acosta said. "We had a really good team last year and lost three seniors that were at the top of the lineup. Now we don't have a lot of guys ready for that. It's a learning process." Sophomore Lucas Dages, who competed just twice last spring, is winless in seven matches playing No. 5 and No. 6 singles. Arthur Dobradin hadn't com - peted since the fall of 2013 and sports a 3-4 record at the bottom of the lineup. Freshman Renan Hanayama is 2-3 at No. 4 singles, while Matt Bougy is 0-3 as a spot starter at No. 6 singles. "You see a lot of improve- ments from the guys, a lot of posi- tive attitudes and getting better," Gajdzik said. "We can see those developmental changes, it's just tough competition." Acosta has been a bright spot for the Boilermakers this spring, sporting a 4-2 mark at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, a big jump from the No. 5 slot he primarily played in last season. Acosta defeated the highest-ranked opponent of his ca - reer, No. 62 Aron Hiltzik of Illinois in straight sets. His lone losses came to No. 10 Julian Lenz of Baylor and No. 55 Chris Simpson of LSU. "Diego has been having an amazing season this semester," Gajdzik said. "This is his last semes- ter. He's a senior. He's a leader. He's playing the best tennis of his life right now. We're really proud of the way he developed." After a 1-3 fall — all losses coming against unranked oppo- nents — Acosta said he entered the spring with a new mindset. "I realized that this is my last stretch, my last semester here," Acosta said. "I thought I better just give all that I can to have the best senior ending that I could." The other two players return- ing from last season's lineup haven't had as much success as Acosta. After wins against Eastern Il- linois and IUPUI, Ricky Medinilla lost three straight matches at No. 1 singles. Since dropping to No. 2, he's 1-2. Mateus Silva thrived at the back of Purdue's lineup last season, going 15-4, but is just 2-5 on the GROWING PAINS Men's tennis goes through transition year Purdue Coach Pawel Gajdzik sees better days ahead for the Boilermakers, who are struggling with youth now. Purdue Diego Acosta is 4-2 this spring, with a win over the No. 62 player in the country.