Feb. 6, 2009
The Purdue women's tennis team lost to No. 54 Western Michigan 4-3 Friday at the West Hills Athletic Club in Kalamazoo, Mich.
"It was a good college match, but it was our match to win," head coach Laura Glitz said. "I believe we learned a lot from this match and will come back stronger as a team."
Purdue (3-3) won the doubles point for the fourth time this season and dropped its first match this year when winning the opening point. Purdue's freshmen duo of Remi Martin and Jennifer Rabot gave the Boilermakers an early advantage with their 8-4 win over Ashley Moccia and Jenny Nalepa at No. 2. The Broncos evened the match when Amanda Moccia and Kerstin Pahl defeated Tatiana Ganzha and Anna Dushkina 8-3 at No. 3. Purdue's No. 1 tandem of Michelle Sammons and Stephanie Wooten claimed a 9-7 victory over Yumi Matsuto and Emily Dudzik to clinch the point.
Western Michigan (5-2) evened the match when Matsuto defeated Dushkina 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6 singles and pulled ahead with Pahl's 6-1, 6-4 victory over Wooten at No. 1. Ganzha evened the match again by earning a 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 3 over Nalepa.
Rabot increased her singles record to a team-leading 5-1 this season and put the Boilermakers ahead in the team score by defeating Amanda Moccia 6-2, 6-4 at No. 4. Ashley Moccia battled back after losing the first set to even the match once again with her 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-0 win over Martin at No. 5. The match was decided at No. 2 singles when Dudzik defeated Sammons 0-6, 6-2, 7-6 (1).
"Although I didn't play the best tennis, I managed to find a way to win," Rabot said. "It was a shame we didn't win, but as a team we fought hard and I believe we will bounce back."
Purdue continues its run of four straight matches away from home with a trip to South Bend, Ind., Feb. 18 to face Notre Dame. That match is scheduled for a 1 p.m. ET start, with live results being available at purduesports.com.