Team remains winless in
Big Ten
By Doug Healey
Staff
Writer
The Purdue women's tennis team is still winless
in the Big Ten after losses to Wisconsin and Minnesota.
The Boilers (3-14, 0-6 Big Ten) lost 4-3 to Minnesota
on Sunday. The doubles point was the difference, as the teams split
the six singles matches.
At No. 2 doubles, Melissa Iqbal and Lynsey Fick
defeated Michaela Havelkova and Valerie Vladea 8-2. At No. 1 doubles,
Missy Wright and Melissa Woods were up early but lost 9-8. Erika Quebe
and Gretchen Haynor lost 9-7 at No. 3.
Coach Mat Iandolo said the Boilers were in a great
position to win the doubles point but couldn’t finish it off.
"Having a 7-4, two break lead at No. 1 and winning
No. 2 fairly easily, that's somewhere where we have to cash in," said
Iandolo. "If you look at the match score, it made all of the difference
in the world."
Iandolo was encouraged by the doubles performance
against Minnesota, however.
"Even though we lost the point, we played better
doubles today than we have in a while," he said.
In singles play, the Boilers received victories
from Iqbal at No. 2, Wright at No. 5 and Lisa Walgenbach at No. 6. Iqbal
defeated Amy Thomas of Minnesota 7-5, 6-3. Wright beat Jen Howard 6-1,
6-1. Walgenbach gutted out a tough 4-6, 7-6 (14-12) match.
Quebe lost to Vladea at No. 1 singles, 3-6, 6-2,
6-1. Woods lost in straight sets to Havelkova, 6-2, 6-3. Haynor lost
to Tammy Wang at No. 4, 7-5, 6-1.
On Saturday, Purdue lost to Wisconsin 5-2.
The Boilers fell behind early after losing the
doubles point. Woods and Wright lost 8-6 at No. 1 doubles, Haynor and
Walgenbach lost 8-1 at No. 3, but Iqbal and Fick won 8-4 at No. 2.
The Boilers lost four of the six singles matches
as well.
Quebe lost at No. 1, 7-6, 6-1. Iqbal lost a tough
three-set match at No. 2, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5. At No. 3 singles, Woods lost
a three-set match as well, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1. At No. 5, Walgenbach lost
in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
The lone singles victories were at No. 4 and No.
6. Haynor won easily, 6-1, 6-0. Wright won in straight sets also, 6-1,
6-3.
Iandolo said the main factor in each match was
the Boilers' inability to close out the matches.
"We have to learn to be tougher on the big points,"
said Iandolo. "It's not that they didn’t play well, it's just closing
it out.
"When you get in the position to win, you've got
to play to win and not play not to lose. If you play too careful on
the big points, you end up losing them at this level."
Iandolo said the Boilers are a young team as well.
"It's an experience thing, just being comfortable
in pressure situations," said Iandolo. "You have to be in those situations
a few times before you reach a level of comfort.
"The bulk of our team is young and it bodes well
for the future, but we have to learn from our experience this year."
Although the Boilers are winless in the Big Ten,
Iandolo said it's important his team learns from this season.
"I don’t mind this adversity as long as we
learn from it," he said. "We need to learn from the adversity in order
to grow as a team. We're not at all unhappy with the effort."
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