April 3, 2010
The 42nd-ranked Purdue women's tennis team dropped a 6-1 decision at 44th-ranked Indiana on Saturday afternoon.
"Indiana played, competed and wanted to win more than we did," head coach Laura Glitz said. "That's why they won. We battled in spots, but it was not all the way down the line. We have to regroup for the Illinois match tomorrow."
Purdue (13-2, 2-2 Big Ten) began the match by dropping the doubles point for just the third time this season. Myriam Sopel and Evgeniya Vertesheva gained an early advantage with an 8-3 win over junior Bhavani Tirumurti and freshman Imogen Golder at No. 3. Senior Michelle Sammons and sophomore Jennifer Rabot evened the point and improved to 14-1 this season with an 8-5 defeat of Leslie Hureau and Lindsey Stuckey at No. 1. The Hoosiers claimed the point at No. 2 when Charlotte Martin and Katya Zapadalova earned an 8-5 victory over sophomore Anna Dushkina and freshman Gisella Pere.
Indiana (12-5, 2-2) quickly jumped ahead in singles and won the first three contests to clinch the match. Vertesheva handed Rabot, the 110th-ranked singles player in the NCAA, her first loss this season 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2. The match ended Rabot's season-opening winning streak at 14. Sopel brought the Hoosiers within one point of victory with her 6-1, 6-4 win over Dushkina at No. 4 before Martin held on for a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win at No. 6 over Pere.
The final three matches on court also required three sets to determine a winner. Tirumurti made sure the Boilermakers would not be blanked while picking up her 11th dual-match singles win this season with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Zapadalova at No. 3. Stuckey then earned a come-from-behind 4-6, 7-6 (5), 1-0 (10) victory over Golder at No. 5 before Hureau also came back to take a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 decision over Sammons at No. 1.
Purdue was defeated on the road for the first time this season. The team won its first four contests away from West Lafayette while compiling the best start in program history, lasting four matches longer than any other Purdue team before losing a second time.
The Boilermakers return to action Sunday when they play at 37th-ranked Illinois. Action begins at 11 a.m. ET from the Atkins Tennis Center, and live results can be found at purduesports.com.