April 11, 2009
The Purdue women's tennis team was defeated 5-2 Saturday by No. 20 Michigan at the University of Michigan Varsity Tennis Courts in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Purdue (6-11, 2-5) dropped the doubles point after losing all three matches. Whitney Taney and Rika Tatsuno defeated Purdue's freshman duo of Remi Martin and Jennifer Rabot 8-2 at No. 2. The point was clinched when Lindsey Howard and Denise Muresan earned an 8-2 victory at No. 3 over junior co-captain Tatiana Ganzha and freshman Kay Kay Magi. Michigan's 26th-ranked duo of Tania Mahtani and Chisako Sugiyama completed the sweep at No. 1 with an 8-4 win over senior co-captain Stephanie Wooten and junior Michelle Sammons.
Michigan (13-5, 7-1) won the first four singles points to decide the match. Mahtani claimed the first singles match with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Ganzha at No. 4. Michelle Sulahian put the Wolverines on the brink of victory by defeating Martin 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6. The match was clinched at No. 5 when Taney claimed a 6-2, 6-1 win over freshman Anna Dushkina. Michigan earned its final singles win at No. 2, where Sugiyama, the 67th-ranked singles player in the NCAA, beat Wooten 6-3, 6-4.
Even though the team winner had been decided, two singles matches were still being played. Sammons earned a commanding 6-4, 6-3 win over Tatsuno at No. 1. The win was marks the second in the last four matches for Sammons and her third this season while playing from the top singles spot. Rabot improved to 13-4 during the spring season with her 3-6, 7-6 (5), 1-0 (9) victory at No. 3 over Mursean.
The Boilermakers wrap up their regular-season road schedule Sunday with a trip to East Lansing, Mich., to face Michigan State. The match begins at 11 a.m. ET from the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility.