May 9, 2003
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's tennis team fell 4-1 to No. 24 Miami of Florida in the first round of the NCAA Championships. The dual match was played at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington, KY, today.
The 39th-ranked Boilermakers close out the season with a 13-12 record. The Hurricanes improve to 17-6 overall and will advance to the second round against the winner of the Kentucky vs. Hampton match on Sat., May 10.
This marked the last collegiate match for seniors Melissa Iqbal and Missy Wright.
Purdue head coach Mat Iandolo is looking forward to next year's program.
"Our program reached a new level this year," Iandolo said. "We finished top four in the Big Ten and the seniors are leaving the program in great shape. Missy and Melissa have made their mark.
This year was the first step and hopefully next will be the second to making the sweet sixteen. Today's match was highly contested and the team played well overall. We felt confident and put ourselves in a position to win, but fell short."
Miami got off to a quick start by winning the first two matches of doubles to claim the first point of the day.
In singles, sophomore Lara Burgarello won her tenth straight match with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Sara Robbins at the No. 6 spot. Unfortunately, she was the only Boilermaker to capture a victory in today's match.
"It felt good to beat Sarah," Burgarello said. "It was very windy, but I was able to use that to my advantage, whereas Sarah seemed to struggle.
#24 Miami (Fla.) 4, #39 Purdue 1
Doubles1. #21 Applebaum/Bradley (UM) def. Melissa Woods/Burgarello 8-0
2. Wright/Zuccarini (PU) vs. Igna de Villiers/Abby Smith (UM) 6-3, susp.
3. Stevens/Toro (UM) def. Haynor/Iqbal (PU) 8-3
Singles
1. #79 Megan Bradley (UM) def. Gretchen Haynor (PU) 6-1, 6-1
2. #58 Melissa Applebaum (UM) def. Amy Walgenbach (PU) 4-6, 2-0, susp.
3. Mari Toro (UM) vs. Melissa Iqbal (PU) 6-4, 2-5, susp.
4. Staci Stevens (UM) def. Shawna Zuccarini (PU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Sihem Bennacer (UM) def. Missy Wright (PU) 6-2, 7-5
6. Lara Burgarello (PU) def. Sara Robbins (UM) 6-3, 6-1
order of finish 1, 6, 4, 5