April 26, 2002
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's tennis team fell 4-1 to No. 15 Northwestern in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Championships today in Bloomington, Ind. The Boilermakers, hopeful for a bid to the upcoming NCAA Championships, fell to 10-12. They finished the conference regular season with a 5-5 record.
The eighth-seeded and 48th-ranked Boilermakers earned the right to play the top-seeded Wildcats with a Thursday win over ninth-seeded Michigan State. But Purdue ran out of steam against the heavy favorites, dropping the doubles point to head into singles trailing 1-0 in a race to four.
Needing to win four of the six singles matches to pull the upset, the Boilermakers could manage just one victory. Junior Melissa Iqbal came through at No. 1, upsetting 29th-ranked Marine Piriou 6-3, 6-0. Iqbal, who lost 6-1, 6-1 to Piriou in the regular season, currently is ranked 120th.
Northwestern got its final three points at No. 2, 3 and 6. Lia Jackson beat sophomore Gretchen Haynor 6-3, 6-4; Jessica Rush defeated sophomore Melissa Woods 6-2, 6-1; and Ruth Barnes knocked off freshman Shawna Zuccarini 6-3, 6-3.
Freshmen Lara Burgarello and Amy Walgenbach did not complete their matches at No. 4 and 6.
Despite the loss, Purdue head coach Mat Iandolo remained positive.
"Northwestern is a great team and we fought them hard," Iandolo said. "We've got a young team and we have really grown this year. Hopefully this season isn't over, but we are very excited about our future."
Northwestern 4, Purdue 1Doubles1. Jackson/Petrutiu (NW) defeats Missy Wright/Haynor (PUR) 8-42. Piriou/Rush (NW) defeats Lynsey Fick/Woods (PUR) 8-33. Barnes/Yung (NW) Iqbal/Burgarello (PUR) abandonedSingles1. Melissa Iqbal (PUR) defeats Marine Piriou (NW) 6-3, 6-02. Lia Jackson (NW) defeats Gretchen Haynor (PUR) 6-3, 6-43. Jessica Rush (NW) defeats Melissa Woods (PUR) 6-2, 6-14. Simona Petrutiu (NW) Lara Burgarello (PUR) abandoned5. Andrea Yung (NW) Amy Walgenbach (PUR) abandoned6. Ruth Barnes (NW) defeats Shawna Zuccarini (PUR) 6-3, 6-3
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