April 20, 2003
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - For the second time in school history, the Purdue women's tennis team defeated Indiana. In Sunday's regular-season finale at the Lafayette Sports Center, the 45th-ranked Boilermakers swept the Hoosiers by a 7-0 score, marking Purdue's first win against its most bitter intrastate rival since April 19, 1998.
Purdue head coach Mat Iandolo was happy to see the Boilermakers' six-match losing streak to the Hoosiers come to an end.
"Historically we've struggled against Indiana, which had been the premier program in the Midwest until recently," Iandolo said. "Over the last six years we've felt like we let a few get away that we should have won. Finishing on a note like this certainly gives us a lot of confidence heading into the postseason."
Purdue's victory against the Hoosiers, which was the Boilermakers' first sweep of a conference opponent since a 7-0 win over Penn State on March 27, 1999, also counted for a Titan Series point. The Boilermakers now lead the competition between the Purdue and Indiana athletic departments 7.5-6.5, with six sports points still up for grabs between men's and women's track and field, men's and women's golf, baseball and softball.
Purdue handled Indiana with ease, quickly taking the doubles point by winning two of the three pairs matches. Senior Melissa Iqbal and Gretchen Haynor finished first, with an 8-3 win over Jessica Groth and Sophie Rychlik at No. 3. Junior Melissa Woods and sophomore Lara Burgarello clinched the point with an 8-6 victory over Karie Schlukebir and Linda Tran at No. 1. Burgarello and Woods had not teamed up as doubles partners since March 2, in a loss at No. 6 Duke.
Switching teams late in the season seemed to work for Iandolo, who recognized the importance of winning the match's first point.
"We knew the doubles point doubles would be critical," Iandolo said. "We made a gutsy move to switch the lineup because we haven't been getting a lot of production from No. 1 and 2 doubles lately. We wanted to shake things up a bit. We gambled, and it paid off."
The rewards continued to be reaped in singles. Burgarello was first off the court following a perfect 6-0, 6-0 defeat of Rychlik at No. 6. On court No. 2, Amy Walgenbach beat Sarah Batty 6-2, 6-3 to account for Purdue's third point of the early afternoon.
Needing one more point to clinch the team victory, Iqbal delivered the goods with a 6-3, 6-3 win against Martina Grimm at No. 3.
Iqbal was proud to come through with the deciding point in her last home match as a Boilermaker.
"I'm really happy that I was able to come through for my team today," Iqbal said. "Beating Indiana is always great, but getting the clinching win is icing on the cake."
After the match was decided, sophomore Shawna Zuccarini finished off Dominika Walterova 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 at No. 4. Senior Missy Wright won 6-1, 7-6 against Schlukebir at No. 5, and Haynor oulasted Tran 7-6, 6-7, 11-9 at No. 1.
The Boilermakers finish the regular season with a 12-10 overall record and a 6-4 Big Ten. Their season will continue next weekend, when they compete at the Big Ten Championships hosted by Illinois from April 24 to 27. The Boilermakers will be the No. 5 seed, unless Ohio State loses at Iowa today. If the Buckeyes lose, they would have a 6-4 conference record, but they would lose the tiebreaker with Purdue for the No. 4 seed because of a 4-3 loss to the Boilermakers during the regular season. The No. 4 seed will play the No. 5 seed in a quarterfinal on Friday, April 25.
Purdue will be shooting for its first ever Big Ten title when it heads to Champaign. Iandolo thinks a championship ring is within reach.
"We're very confident going in," Iandolo says. "We feel like there isn't a team we can't beat if we're on top of our game."
#45 Purdue 7, Indiana 0Doubles1. Woods/Burgarello (P) def. Schlukebir/Tran (I) 8-62. Batty/Grimm (I) def. Wright/Zuccarini (P) 8-73. Iqbal/Haynor (P) def. Jessica Groth/Rychlik (I) 8-3Singles1. Gretchen Haynor (P) def. Linda Tran (I) 7-6, 6-7, 11-92. Amy Walgenbach (P) def. Sarah Batty (I) 6-2, 6-33. Melissa Iqbal (P) def. Martina Grimm (I) 6-3, 6-34. Shawna Zuccarini (P) def. Dominka Walterova (I) 6-0, 2-6, 6-25. Missy Wright (P) def. Karie Schlukebir (I) 6-1, 7-66. Lara Burgarello (P) def. Sophie Rychlik (I) 6-0, 6-0- P -
Purdue: 12-10 (6-4 Big Ten)Indiana: 9-16 (1-9 Big Ten)