Feb. 5, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's tennis team remained undefeated by beating Penn State 5-2 Friday afternoon on the Basham Courts inside the Schwartz Tennis Center.
"I thought we competed extremely well today," head coach Laura Glitz said. "It is nice to see the rewards from all the hard work on and off the court. I am very proud of the team, and I look for the same effort against Missouri on Sunday."
Purdue (5-0, 1-0) picked up the doubles point for the fifth time in as many contests this season. Freshman Imogen Golder and junior Bhavani Tirumurti gave the Boilermakers an early advantage by taking down Michaela Stracar and Maria Prishlyak 8-2 at No. 3. Senior Michelle Sammons and sophomore Jennifer Rabot clinched the point at No. 1, where they beat Sarah Lotto and Lauren McCarthy 8-4. Penn State (2-2, 0-1) avoided the sweep when Amy Simidian and Petra Januskova earned an 8-4 victory over sophomores Anna Dushkina and Remi Martin.
Rabot extended the Boilermakers' lead as the match moved into singles. The Bishop's Stortford, England, native quickly defeated Lotto 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 to remain perfect in dual matches this season. Penn State pulled closer when Januskova handed Sammons her first loss this season, courtesy of a 6-2, 6-4 decision at No. 1. Golder suffered her first collegiate loss in heartbreaking fashion as Simidian pulled out a 6-1, 7-6 (11) victory at No. 5 to tie the team score.
Tirumurti, who transferred this season from Denver, remained unbeaten in dual matches as a Boilermaker and pulled the team one point from victory by defeating Prishlyak 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 at No. 3. Dushkina clinched the match after she battled back to claim a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over McCarthy at No. 4. Freshman Gisella Pere brought the match to its final margin by capturing her own bounce-back victory 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 over Sarah Henderson at No. 6.
"This match was very exciting," Dushkina said. "We have had a very good start to the season this far, but I think we started this match with less energy than Penn State. I felt like in the end we were mentally tougher. For me, it was a matter of convincing myself that I was better. That made me want to stay on court longer and win the long points."
Purdue won its 17th straight match against Penn State and now leads the all-time series 17-4. The Boilermakers failed to record a shutout for the first time this season, snapping a program-record streak of four consecutive 7-0 victories.
Purdue faces its first road test of the season Sunday at Missouri. The Boilermakers and Tigers are set to begin at 2 p.m. ET from the Green Tennis Center in Columbia, Mo.