Feb. 22, 2006
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's tennis team won its fifth match in a row Wednesday as it defeated No. 49 Illinois 6-1 in its Big Ten opener at the Lafayette Sports Center. The 32nd-ranked Boilermakers are now 5-2 (1-0 Big Ten), while the Fighting Illini drop to 4-5 (0-1).
Purdue head coach Mat Iandolo was glad to start the conference season on a good foot.
"Getting that first win in the Big Ten is important, especially against a team like Illinois," Iandolo said. "We've had some great battles with them recently, so it was really good to win in convincing fashion."
The last three matches in the Purdue-Illinois series were decided by one point.
Purdue cruised through doubles. The 40th-ranked pair of junior Hala Sufi and freshman Mallory Voelker finished first, beating Emily Wang and Macall Harkins 8-5 at No. 1. Senior Brittany Minna and sophomore Stephanie Wooten clinched the doubles point with an 8-4 win over Momei Qu and Alejandra Cuadra at No. 3.
Sophomore Brooke Beier and freshman Randi Schuler added an insurance victory at No. 2.
The Boilermakers continued to roll in singles. Voelker quickly disposed of Wang at No. 4, 6-0, 6-0. Shortly thereafter, Wooten came off the No. 5 court with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Shivani Davie. Schuler then clinched the match with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Qu at No. 2.
Beier won at No. 3, and freshman Anna Dzeva won at No. 6. Sufi, ranked 100th, suffered the lone singles loss for the Boilermakers, as she dropped a 6-7, 6-3, 10-3 decision to Harkins at No. 1.
The Boilermakers, winners of three straight matches over ranked opponents, will have some time off before returning to the court at SMU on March 4.
#32 Purdue 6, #49 Illinois 1
Singles
1. Macall Harkins (ILL) def. #100 Hala Sufi (PUR) 6-7, 6-3, 10-3
2. Randi Schuler (PUR) def. Momei Qu (ILL) 6-2, 7-5
3. Brooke Beier (PUR) def. Brianna Knue (ILL) 6-2, 6-4
4. Mallory Voelker (PUR) def. Emily Wang (ILL) 6-0, 6-0
5. Stephanie Wooten (PUR) def. Shivani Davie (ILL) 6-1, 6-1
6. Anna Dzeva (PUR) def. Alejandra M.Cuadra (ILL) 6-3, 3-6, 11-9
Doubles
1. #40 Sufi/Voelker (PUR) def. Wang/Harkins (ILL) 8-5
2. Beier/Schuler (PUR) def. Knue/Cuadra (ILL) 8-3
3. Brittany Minna/Wooten (PUR) def. Qu/Davie (ILL) 8-4
Order of singles finish: 4,5,2,3,1,6
Order of doubles finish: 1,3,2
Purdue: 5-2
Illinois: 4-5
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