April 25, 2003
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's tennis team advanced to the semifinals of the 2003 Big Ten Championships with a 4-3 win over Ohio State in Champaign, Ill., on Friday. The fourth-seeded and 42nd-ranked Boilermakers will play top-seeded and 29th-ranked Minnesota on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Assistant coach Chris Karges-Iandolo said Purdue proved to be the tougher team down the stretch.
"We fought for this victory," Karges-Iandolo said. "Everybody contributed and played to win. We hung in there, and toward the end appeared to be mentally and physically stronger."
The match began in Ohio State's favor, as the fifth-seeded and 44th-ranked Buckeyes captured the doubles point behind wins at the No. 1 and 2 positions.
Purdue, which rallied from a 1-0 deficit to beat Ohio State 4-3 in the regular season, managed the same comeback effort on Friday. Needing four singles victories to pull out the team win, sophomore Lara Burgarello was the first to come through with a 6-1, 6-0 defeat of Lindsay Bryan at No. 6.
Senior Melissa Iqbal then delivered a 6-3, 6-3 win over Jackie Leskovar at No. 3, avenging a loss to Leskovar on April 5.
Sophomore Shawna Zuccarini took a loss at No. 4, then junior Gretchen Haynor fell at No. 1.
The Boilermakers, trailing 3-2, still needed two more wins. In the clutch, senior Missy Wright outlasted Emily DeCamilla 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 at No. 5, before sophomore Amy Walgenbach clinched the victory by beating Erica Fisk 6-0, 5-7, 6-1 at No. 2.
The win improved Purdue's record to 13-10. Ohio State dropped to 12-11.
The Boilermakers will be looking to get even with the Golden Gophers after a 4-3 loss in Minneapolis on Feb. 15. Purdue has never won a Big Ten semifinal match.
Despite owning the No. 1 seed, Minnesota is not a heavy favorite in this tournament. The Golden Gophers, who beat No. 9 seed Penn State 4-1 in another Friday quarterfinal, finished the regular season with a conference-best 9-1 record. However, six of those nine wins were by 4-3 scores, and five of them came in Minneapolis. Their four road matches, all resulting in victories, were played at Michigan, Iowa, Indiana and Michigan State. Those four teams owned the No. 7, 8, 10 and 11 seeds in this year's tournament bracket.
The 2003 Big Ten Championships are being hosted by Illinois at the Atkins Tennis Center and Illini Grove Courts. Full results from the tournament can be found at www.fightingillini.com.
#42 Purdue 4, #44 Ohio State 3Doubles1. Pervez/Williams (OS) def. Woods/Burgarello (P) 8-62. Erica Fisk/Leskovar (OS) def. Zuccarini/Wright (P) 9-73. Haynor/Iqbal (P) def. Colville/Adams (OS) 8-6Singles1. Sadhaf Pervez (OS) def. Gretchen Haynor (P) 6-1, 4-6, 6-22. Amy Walgenbach (P) def. Erica Fisk (OS) 6-0, 5-7, 6-13. Melissa Iqbal (P) def. Jackie Leskovar (OS) 6-3, 6-34. Lindsay Williams (OS) def. Shawna Zuccarini (P) 6-0, 6-45. Missy Wright (P) def. Emily DeCamilla (OS) 2-6, 6-2, 7-56. Lara Burgarello (P) def. Lindsay Bryan (OS) 6-1, 6-0- P -