March 8, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's tennis team was defeated 4-3 by No. 51 Illinois Sunday on the Basham Courts inside the Schwartz Tennis Center.
"I thought it was a great effort in singles and we battled hard," head coach Laura Glitz said. "I believe this was our match to win, so I am disappointed, but the positive is that the team realizes that we can defeat programs of this caliber. Hopefully we can use this attitude in our next match against Ohio State."
Purdue (5-5, 1-1) dropped the doubles point for just the fourth time this season. At the No. 1 spot, Stephanie Wooten and Michelle Sammons dominated Megan Fudge and Marisa Lambropoulos 8-0 to give the Boilermakers an early advantage. The doubles point was evened at No. 3 when Amy Allin and Annie McCarthy defeated Tatiana Ganzha and Anna Dushkina 8-4. Illinois (10-2, 2-0) won the point at No. 2, where Chelcie Abajian and Leigh Finnegan beat Jennifer Rabot and Remi Martin 8-5.
The Boilermakers jumped in front with victories in the first two singles matches. Dushkina improved to 7-3 this season with a 6-0, 6-4 defeat of Kristina Minor at No. 6. The freshman from Odessa, Ukraine, won her third consecutive match, which is her longest streak this season. Rabot improved her team-leading win total to eight with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Abajian at No. 4. Rabot's win is her third in a row and just one win behind her longest winning streak this season.
Illinois pulled even at No. 5 singles when Allin defeated Martin 6-4, 6-2. The Fighting Illini moved into the lead as Finnegan, ranked 86th in the NCAA in singles, claimed a 7-6 (3), 6-4 decision over Sammons at No. 1. The match was clinched when Lambropoulos defeated Ganzha 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 at No. 3.
In the final match completed, Wooten handed Fudge her first singles loss this season with a 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (8) win. Wooten improved her singles record to 6-3, while Fudge fell to 11-1 in dual matches. Including the season-opening FGCU/Johan Kriek Classic, Fudge had won 15 consecutive matches and only been pushed to three sets once. Wooten won her third consecutive match to tie her longest winning streak this season.
Purdue now leads the all-time series with Illinois 27-21. The Boilermakers return to the court Friday at 35th-ranked Ohio State in a match that begins at 4 p.m. ET.