Sept. 18, 2005
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue women's tennis freshman Mallory Voelker made good in her collegiate debut, winning the singles Flight Four title at the Tennessee St. Mary's Classic in Knoxville on Sunday.
Voelker advanced to the title match with a first-round, three-set, come-from-behind win over Christian Dao of Rice (0-6, 6-4, 7-5). In the semifinals, she beat Sierra Poske of Wake Forest in straight sets. She finished things off with a 6-1, 7-5 finals win over Lady Vol Ghizella Schutte.
Voelker was not the only Boilermaker to make it to a title match. Fellow rookie Randi Schuler finished as runner-up in Flight Three.
Sophomore Brooke Beier placed fifth in Flight Two. Freshman Anya Dzeva finished fifth in Flight Five. Both junior Hala Sufi, currently ranked 73rd nationally, and freshman Whitney Reys finished in sixth place in flights one and six, respectively. Senior Paula Schmidt finished eighth in Flight Seven.
In doubles, Sufi and Beier placed third in Flight One. Schuler and Voelker finished fifth in Flight Two, while Dzeva and Reys came in eighth in Flight Three.
Purdue head coach Mat Iandolo, now in his 15th year in West Lafayette, was pleased to see his freshmen have success in their first collegiate tournament.
"I thought we saw some really positive things from our freshmen over the weekend," Iandolo said. "Mallory and Randi did a great job getting to the finals. Knowing they can succeed at this level has to bring them a lot of confidence."
Purdue will return to action in two weeks, when it competes at the UK Fall Invitational in Lexington, Ky., from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3.
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