Feb. 26, 2000
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's tennis team could not pull off the victory on Sat. against Iowa. The Boilermakers fell 4-3 at the Lafayette Sports Center, and are now 3-3 (0-1 Big Ten) for the season.
Iowa managed to secure the doubles point by claiming wins at the No. 1 and 2 positions. Melissa Iqbal and Erika Quebe defeated Erica Johnson and Megan Kearney 9-7 at No. 3. But since the team with the best of the three matches wins the point, Purdue headed into singles 0-1.
At the No. 1 singles spot, Jennifer Embry pulled off a quick 6-2, 6-3 victory over Shera Wiegler. Purdue's Shannon Taheny followed her lead and picked up a 6-2, 6-0 decision at No. 2 against Toni Neykova. Lisa Walgenbach set the stage for a true nail biter, when she defeated Jennifer Sinclair 7-6, 6-3 at No. 6. It became tooth and nail as the match came down to the wire. Purdue could not hold on in the tiebreaker sets of the last two matches, and Iowa went on to the victory.
"It was a whale of a match," Purdue head coach Mat Iandolo said. "We were in a position to win, but we came up short. We have to play to win on big points versus playing to lose. Hopefully, we'll learn by tomorrow when we face Wisconsin."
Iowa 4, Purdue 3
Singles
No. 1 Jennifer Embry (PU) def. Shera Wiegler (IU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 Shannon Taheny (PU) def. Toni Neykova (IU) 6-2, 6-0
No. 3 Natalya Dawaf (IU) def. Erika Quebe (PU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
No. 4 Megan Kearney (IU) def. Melissa Iqbal (PU) 6-0, 6-3
No. 5 Erica Johnson (IU) def. Lynsey Fick (PU) 6-1, 3-6, 7-5
No. 6 Lisa Walgenbach (PU) def. Jennifer Sinclair (IU) 7-6, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 Wiggler/Neykova (IU) def. Embry/Taheny (PU) 8-3
No. 2 Dawaf/Sinclair (IU) def. Fick/Walgenbach (PU) 8-4
No. 3 Quebe/Iqbal (PU) def. Johnson/Kearney (IU) 9-7