March 19, 2010
The 35th-ranked Purdue women's tennis team swept Southeastern Louisiana 7-0 on Friday afternoon at the North Cyprus Fitness Club in Hammond, La.
Purdue (13-1) started the afternoon by sweeping the doubles matches for the sixth time this season. Senior Michelle Sammons and sophomore Jennifer Rabot improved to 12-1 at the No. 1 doubles spot this season by outlasting Audrey Chelini and Camille Pilon 8-5. Sophomore Anna Dushkina and freshman Gisella Pere cruised to an 8-3 victory over Morgane Dadot and Nina Schmeid at No. 2, and junior Bhavani Tirumurti and freshman Imogen Golder continued their strong season by beating Annika Hanke and Mia Hagiu 8-5 at No. 3.
As the teams moved into singles play, Purdue continued its success by winning all six matches in straight sets. Sammons got back on the winning track with her eighth dual-match singles win this season, a 6-0, 6-2 decision over Chelini at No. 1. Rabot, who is ranked 94th in the NCAA in singles, kept her perfect singles season in tact with a 6-1, 6-1 stomping of Dadot at No. 2 to improve to 14-0. Tirumurti earned a hard fought point at No. 3 by defeating Pilon 6-3, 6-4.
The No. 4 match was controlled by Dushkina as she earned a point for Purdue by knocking off Schmied 6-2, 6-2. Golder turned in the most solid performance of the day for the Boilermakers and improved to 11-3 in dual-match singles play this season by nearly blanking Isabel Brito 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5. Pere earned the eighth singles victory of her young career by topping Hanke 7-5, 6-2 at No. 6.
The Boilermakers completed their Louisiana road trip with a 3-0 record after also knocking off New Orleans and Tulane earlier in the week. Purdue earned a shutout for the sixth time this season and won all 10 matches for the fifth time.
The Boilermakers return to action April 3 when they resume Big Ten play against in-state rival and 30th-ranked Indiana.