Feb. 22, 2009
The Purdue women's tennis team opened its Big Ten season by beating Penn State 6-1 Sunday inside the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center in State College, Pa.
"The team played and competed extremely well this weekend," head coach Laura Glitz said. "All the way down the line, each player stepped up and got the job done. I could not be more pleased with my team."
Purdue (5-4, 1-0) won the doubles point for the sixth time this season and improved to 5-1 when winning the initial point. Co-captain Stephanie Wooten and junior Michelle Sammons gave Purdue an early lead by defeating Monika Mical and Sarah Lotto 8-3 at No. 1 singles. The point was clinched at No. 2 singles when Purdue's freshman duo of Jennifer Rabot and Remi Martin took down Lauren McCarthy and Maria Prishlyak 8-2. Penn State (2-7, 0-1) won at No. 3 singles as Leyla Morzan and Dorothy Dohanics beat co-captain Tatiana Ganzha and freshman Anna Dushkina 8-5.
The Boilermakers ran away with the match in singles play, taking the first five decisions. Ganzha won her sixth match of the season by defeating Prishlyak 6-2, 6-4 at No. 3. Rabot scored her team-leading seventh win in 2009 against just two losses with her 6-2, 6-2 win over Dohanics at No. 4.
The match was clinched by Wooten at No. 2 when the senior from Combine, Texas, beat McCarthy 6-3, 6-2. Sammons extended Purdue's lead further and gained her first win at the No. 1 position with a 6-0, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Mical. Dushkina beat Lotto 6-2, 6-4 at No. 6 and improved to 6-3 this season. Morzan defeated Martin 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (6) at No. 5 for the final margin.
Purdue earned its 16th straight victory over Penn State and now leads the all-time series 16-4. With Sunday's victory, the Boilermakers eclipsed their win total from all of last season after matching it with a 6-1 victory over Oklahoma Saturday. Purdue returns to action March 8 when Illinois travels to West Lafayette for a noon showdown.