April 23, 2000
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's tennis team finished regular season action with a tough 5-2 loss Sunday to Minnesota. With the loss, the Boilermakers head into the conference tournament with a 10-12 (4-6 Big Ten) record.
"It couldn't get any closer than that," Purdue head coach Mat Iandolo said. "I feel bad because we put ourselves in a position to win and we just didn't do it."
The Boilers missed several opportunities to clinch a victory today. In doubles action, Jennifer Embry and Shannon Taheny picked up an 8-6 win at the No. 1 spot. Unfortunately, in order to claim the doubles point, a team must win two of the three matches.
In singles action, Purdue fought hard to win four matches of the six matches. At the No. 1 spot, Embry defeated Nora Sauska 6-2, 6-1. In a tiebreaker, Melissa Iqbal defeated Michaela Havelkova 4-6, 6-0, 6-4. Taheny, Erika Quebe and Lynsey Fick pushed their matches at the No. 2, 3 and 6 spots to the third sets, but were unable to hang on for wins.
"I feel like we continued to play hard the entire match," Iandolo said. "We just got nervous at the critical match-point. That's going to come with lack of experience in those situations."
With the conference tournament beginning April 27, Iandolo looks toward the future with optimism.
"Overall I feel good going into the tournament," Iandolo said. "I think if we can turn around some of these close matches we will be able to compete with any team in the league."
Minnesota 5, Purdue 2
Singles
1. Jennifer Embry (PU) def. Nora Sauska (MINN), 6-2, 6-1
2. Sandra Olsen (MINN) def. Shannon Taheny (PU), 6-2, 1-6, 7-6
3. Kim Simonsen (MINN) def. Erika Quebe (PU), 6-2, 0-6, 7-6
4. Melissa Iqbal (PU) def. Michaela Havelkova (MINN), 4-6, 6-0, 6-4
5. Tammy Wang (MINN) def. Lisa Walgenbach (PU), 6-2, 6-2
6. Jennifer Howard (MINN) def. Lynsey Fick (PU), 6-1, 6-4, 2-6
Doubles
1. Embry/Taheny (PU) def. Olsen/Havelkova (MINN), 8-6
2. Simonsen/Wang (MINN) def. Fick/Walgenbach (PU), 8-5
3. Sauska/Howard (MINN) def. Iqbal/Quebe (PU), 8-5