Feb. 24, 2007
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 36 Purdue women's tennis team (5-2, 1-0 Big Ten) handed Washington (0-6, 0-2 Pac 10) a 7-0 loss Saturday at the Schwartz Tennis Center, but getting to that end result was a lot harder than it looked.
In a match that lasted over four hours, there were four three-set victories, three tiebreaks and two more 7-5 sets.
"This was certainly one of our tougher ones (7-0 decisions), but I knew we could win, I also knew we would have a fight at every position," said head coach Mat Iandolo, whose team has won three straight duals.
Mallory Voelker and Brooke Beier both won at singles and together at No. 1 doubles, improving to 6-2 as a team. They were the first ones done on the doubles court after beating Mathilde Cor and Joyce Ardies, 8-1.
Both Boilermakers came back from first set deficits in singles play. Voelker outlasted Tara Simpson at No. 1, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4), and Beier fought past Cor at No. 2, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2.
"As a coach, I like to see my team extended and have to dig deep for these wins," said Iandolo. "This was a great bounce back win for Mal. She lost a lopsided first set but came back to beat a quality player in Simpson."
Purdue's shutout was its fourth of the season through seven duals; in fact, all its victories have been by a five or seven-point margin. Friday night's win at Illinois was the team's first non-shutout victory.
Two other streaks of note were extended Saturday. Junior Cigdem Duru won her eighth-consecutive match with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 decision over Melinda Wong at No. 5 singles, and Neela Vaez earned the team's seventh-straight victory at No. 4 singles - the only position where Purdue has yet to lose.
Vaez beat Allison Rainey, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
Randi Schuler and Anna Dzeva claimed straight-set victories at No. 3 and 6 singles, and combined for a win at No. 3 doubles.
Schuler and Dzeva came back from a 7-5 hole against Rainey and Morgan Ramser with a 7-5 tiebreak decision. Their win gave Purdue its third doubles sweep of the season.
The schedule gets tougher for Purdue next weekend as they visit nationally ranked Virginia and Virginia Tech.