Jan. 30, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's tennis team continued its unbeaten start to the 2010 season Saturday afternoon when they defeated Illinois State 7-0 on the Basham Courts inside the Schwartz Tennis Center.
"Illinois State is a tough team," head coach Laura Glitz said. "It took a tremendous effort from the entire team to defeat them 7-0. I am very proud of the way the team competed today."
Purdue (4-0) dropped a decision for the first time this season but still managed to grab the doubles point. Senior Michelle Sammons and sophomore Jennifer Rabot put the Boilermakers ahead early by claiming an 8-4 victory over Julia Zubkova and Franziska Steinhardt. Purdue clinched the point when junior Bhavani Tirumurti and freshman Imogen Golder beat Hannah Esker and Carmen Peters 8-5 at No. 3. Illinois State (0-1) avoided the sweep at No. 2, where Amiko Kiss and Natalia Lech earned an 8-6 decision over Purdue's sophomore duo of Anna Dushkina and Remi Martin.
Rabot extended the lead as the match moved into singles play. The Bishop's Stortford, England, native defeated Zubkova 6-0, 6-2 at the No. 2 position. Freshman Gisella Pere, who appeared in her first match as a Boilermaker, brought Purdue within one point of victory when she grabbed a 6-4, 6-1 win over Esker at No. 6. Golder remained unbeaten in collegiate singles and clinched the match with her 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Ariane Maack at No. 5.
"We had really good team spirit today," Golder said. "Everybody was supporting everyone else, and it was great. I loved being out there today, and I'm really proud of the team."
Following closely the wins by Pere and Golder, which happened approximately one minute apart, were two more Boilermaker victories. Sammons completed her 6-3, 6-2 win over Kiss at No. 1 just seconds before Tirumurti put the finishing touches on a 6-2, 6-2 defeat of Lech at No. 3. Dushkina brought the match to its conclusion when she beat Steinhardt 6-4, 7-5 at No. 4.
Purdue has beaten all four of its opponents 7-0 this season, marking the longest stretch of consecutive shutout wins in program history. The four 7-0 victories also rank as the second-highest single-season total by a Boilermaker team. The program record of five was set in 2007.
Purdue now leads the all-time series 16-2. The Boilermakers return to action Friday when they jump into Big Ten play by hosting Penn State at 2 p.m. ET.