April 19, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's tennis team was defeated 4-3 by No. 75 Minnesota Sunday on the Basham Courts inside the Schwartz Tennis Center.
Purdue (8-12, 4-6) got behind early after being swept in doubles. Tijana Koprivica and Jackie Sperling defeated freshmen Jennifer Rabot and Remi Martin 8-5 at No. 2, and the point was clinched at No. 3 where Magdalena Wiecha and Alex Seaton beat freshmen Anna Dushkina and Kay Kay Magi, who were playing together for the first time this season, 8-4. At No. 1, Minnesota's 62nd-ranked team of Karina Chiarelli and Alessandra Ferrazzi handed junior Michelle Sammons and senior co-captain Stephanie Wooten an 8-4 defeat to finish off the sweep.
Minnesota (10-11, 3-7) extended its lead as the match moved to singles play. Sperling picked up the first match by defeating Martin 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6. Sammons pulled the Boilermakers to within one and picked up her fifth conference victory with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Chiarelli at No 1. Koprivica pushed Minnesota's lead back to two when she defeated Wooten 7-5, 6-3 at No. 2.
The Golden Gophers clinched the match when Wiecha earned a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Dushkina at No. 5. Junior co-captain Tatiana Ganzha extended her winning streak to three by defeating Niltooli Wilkins 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 at No. 4. The final margin was reached when Rabot defeated Ferrazzi 7-5, 6-7 (7), 1-0 (2) at No. 3. Rabot ended her first conference season with a 9-1 record and is 16-4 overall in 2009, including 6-1 at the No. 3 spot in singles.
"My record is not something I think about," Rabot said. "Obviously, every time I play I want to win. Today, it was easy to get motivated trying to go from 8-1 to 9-1. It means a lot to me, but how the team does means more. In the future, I want us to get ranked and make the NCAA tournament."
Purdue finishes the regular season having doubled its overall and conference win totals from last year's 4-17 season that included a 2-8 mark in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers now turn their attention to the Big Ten Tournament. Purdue, which is seeded sixth, opens tournament play in Madison, Wis., Thursday at 1 p.m. ET against 11th-seeded Michigan State.