Jan. 30, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's tennis team continued its unblemished start to the 2010 season Saturday morning when they defeated Cleveland State 7-0 on the Basham Courts inside the Schwartz Tennis Center.
"I thought we did a great job starting right from the first point of the match with focus and intensity," head coach Laura Glitz said. "Cleveland State is a solid team, and I was pleased that we dominated all of the matches."
Purdue (3-0) opened the match by sweeping the doubles point yet again. Junior Bhavani Tirumurti and freshman Imogen Golder gave the Boilermakers an early advantage by taking down Nicole Janek and Molly Drake 8-2 at No. 3. The point was clinched at No. 2 when Purdue's sophomore duo of Anna Dushkina and Remi Martin finished off an 8-2 defeat of Maria Lazaris and Denisa Muntean. Senior Michelle Sammons and sophomore Jennifer Rabot completed the team's third doubles sweep this season with an 8-4 win over Catrine Bjerrehus and Charlotte Gibbons at No. 1.
The Boilermakers continued to dominate as they only dropped six games collectively in the first set of singles play. Sophomore Kay Kay Magi was the first to complete her victory as she blanked Muntean 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 in less than 45 minutes. Golder was the next to finish, and she remained unbeaten in collegiate singles play with a 6-1, 6-1 defeat of Gibbons at No. 5. Sammons clinched the match at the top spot in the lineup when she bested Bjerrehus 6-1, 6-1.
Rabot was the next to finish off her opponent. The Bishop's Stortford, England, native earned a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Lazaris at No. 2. Tirumurti then brought her 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Janek at No. 3 to its conclusion before Dushkina completed the shutout by defeating Sanda Bjelan 6-0, 6-2 at No. 4.
Purdue, which opened the season last weekend by blanking Eastern Michigan and Toledo, has won three straight 7-0 matches for the first time in program history and tied the 2003 and 2006 teams for the second-most shutout wins in one season. The 2007 squad holds the single-season program record with five.
The loss dropped Cleveland State to 0-4 this season. The Boilermakers return to the court Saturday afternoon to face Illinois State at 4 p.m. ET. Admission is free, and live results can be found at purduesports.com.