Oct. 26, 2003
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue women's tennis freshmen Hala Sufi and Alyssa Rodriguez saw their runs to an ITA Midwest Championship singles title cut short with losses at the tournament Sunday in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Sufi, who won two straight-set matches Saturday, dropped a 6-3, 6-4 decision to top-seeded and forth-ranked Cristelle Grier in the round of 16.
Rodriguez, who had won three qualifying matches to get into the main draw, saw her five-match win streak snapped with a heartbreaking 6-3, 6-7, 6-0 loss to Northwestern's fourth-seeded and 42nd-ranked Jessica Rush.
Both Sufi and Rodriguez were three wins away from the championship. The winner of each of eight regional tournaments played throughout the country will earn berths into the ITA National Indoor Championships, played in Ann Arbor, Mich., from Nov. 6 to 8.
Purdue head coach Mat Iandolo had nothing but positive comments for his two rookies.
"I'm very pleased with how well Hala and Alyssa performed," Iandolo said. "We knew when we recruited them that they could play at a very high level, and they proved that they can compete against the best. They both gave it a really good run."
Sufi, Rodriguez and the rest of the Boilermakers will return to action the weekend of Nov. 7, when they compete at the Arizona State Invitational. Sufi is a native of Tucson, Ariz.
Complete results from the ITA Midwest Championships can be found at www.wmubroncos.com.
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