April 18, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's tennis team earned its first home victory over a conference opponent with a 5-2 defeat of Iowa on Saturday on the Schwartz Family Outdoor Courts.
"It was a great effort to beat Iowa 5-2, especially since they beat us last year by the same score" head coach Laura Glitz said. "I thought the energy in doubles was good, and I believe that helped us with the overall win. If we do the same thing tomorrow, we have a good chance of winning."
Purdue (8-11, 4-5) jumped out to an early advantage by winning the doubles point for the eighth time this season. The Boilermakers' freshman duo of Remi Martin and Jennifer Rabot earned a commanding 8-0 win over Kelcie Klockenga and Alexis Dorr at No. 2. Lynne Poggensee-Wei and Ally Majercik evened the doubles competition with an 8-5 win over junior co-captain Tatiana Ganzha and freshman Kay Kay Magi at No. 3. The point was clinched when junior Michelle Sammons and senior co-captain Stephanie Wooten defeated Sonja Molnar and Jessica Young 8-4 at No. 1.
The win was the 18th this season for Sammons and Wooten, a number that places them in a tie for 10th for the most doubles wins by a Purdue pair in a single season. Wooten also picked up the 64th doubles win of her career and is now tied for eighth on the school's all-time doubles wins list.
Ganzha won her second straight singles match and extended Purdue's lead by defeating Klockenga 6-2, 6-3 at No. 4. Iowa (7-14, 2-8) got on the board at No. 1 when Molnar, the 91st-ranked singles player in the NCAA, beat Sammons 6-2, 6-2. Wooten earned her second consecutive singles win by taking down Dorr 6-0, 6-4 at No. 3.
The Boilermakers clinched the match when Martin defeated Majercik 7-5, 6-2 at No. 6. Rabot improved to 15-4, including 8-1 in the conference, this season in dual matches with her 6-2, 6-2 win over Poggensee-Wei at No. 3. The final margin was reached when Young earned a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 defeat of freshman Anna Dushkina at No. 5.
"It was a really important match for us to win," Martin said. "We knew we could win it, and everybody did the job that they needed to do. There were some ups and downs, but everybody came through. We came out really energetic in the doubles, and I think that helped. If everybody competes and goes out there and does the best that they can tomorrow, we should be happy with our results and be confident going into the Big Ten Tournament."
Purdue, which is 3-3 in conference road matches, now is 1-2 at home against Big Ten opponents. With the win, the Boilermakers clinched the sixth seed for next week's Big Ten tournament and will face the 11 seed on Thursday.
Purdue wraps up its regular season Sunday against No. 75 Minnesota. The match starts at noon and will be preceded by a ceremony to honor Wooten, Purdue's only senior. Admission to matches at the Schwartz Tennis Center is free, and live results can be found at purduesports.com.