Sept. 21, 2001
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Four Purdue women's tennis players came away with victories in the first day of action at the St. Mary's Health System Classic in Knoxville, Tenn., today.
Head coach Mat Iandolo was pleased with today's singles results.
"This is the third year we've played in this tournament, this is the best field they've ever had, and this is the best we've ever done on the first day," Iandolo said. "Winning four out of eight singles matches against this competition is pretty good. Even the matches we lost, we still played well."
Junior Melissa Iqbal defeated Minnesota's Amy Thomas 6-3, 7-6 (6) in Flight Two. Freshman Amy Walgenbach picked up a 6-0, 6-2 win over Georgia Tech's Catherine Gunn in Flight Three.
Senior captain Lynsey Fick won a marathon match over Minnesota's Kelly Perry in Flight Five. Fick won the first set 7-6 (1), then rallied after dropping the second 6-7 (8) with a 6-4 third-set win.
Junior teammate Missy Wright also won in three sets, winning the first and third against Breanna Kray of Tennessee. Wright knocked off the Lady Vol 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 in Flight Seven.
In Flight One, sophomore Gretchen Haynor dropped a 6-0, 6-2 decision to 16th-ranked Alison Ojeda of Tennessee. Freshman Lara Burgarello lost a three-set heartbreaker to North Carolina's Kristen Koening 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4 in Flight Four. Rookie Shawna Zuccarini fell 6-3, 6-2 to Lee Barios of North Carolina in Flight Six. Catherine McLevish, another freshman, lost 6-2, 6-4 to Mississippi State's Justina Swintala in Flight Eight.
In doubles, the pair of Haynor and Wright lost its first-round match to Kentucky's 10th-ranked team of Mayorga and Witten, 9-7, in Flight One. Haynor and Wright rebounded, however, to defeat Minnesota's Vladea and Havelkova, 9-7, in the back draw.
Burgarello and Zuccarini also split their doubles matches in Flight Two, losing 8-5 in the first round to Tennessee's Cordell and Gates, then winning 8-4 over Furman's The and Kovarik.
In Flight Three doubles, Fick and Walgenbach lost both matches. In the first round, they fell 8-0 to North Carolina's Cline and Barios, then lost 9-8 to N.C. State's Jassawalla and Nichols in the back draw.
Play will resume tomorrow, Sept. 22. Iqbal, Walgenbach, Fick and Wright all will have semifinal matches beginning tomorrow morning and continuing throughout the early afternoon. The tournament will conclude on Sunday, Sept. 23. Full results can be found at www.utladyvols.com.
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