Tennis teem seeks, attains
revenge against Iowa
By Andrew Hershberger
Assistant
Sports Editor
When the women's tennis team got to Iowa City this
weekend, revenge was on their minds — the Boilermakers lost to
Iowa last season, 4-3 in the Big Ten opener.
"We were really pumped to beat them this year,"
freshman Lara Burgarello said. "In the past we've had close matches,
so we really wanted this one."
This time, Purdue got the best of the Hawkeyes,
beating them 4-3 on what coach Mat Iandolo called a "hostile court."
"The courts at Iowa are strange, to say the least,"
Iandolo said. "It's a really fast surface, unlike what we usually play
on. It took a lot of mental toughness to deal with the differences in
conditions."
Burgarello agreed that the conditions were unfavorable.
"We knew going in that we were going to have to
play tough," Burgarello said. "The court surface was really bad, but
we had practiced on it the day before, so we were ready for it."
They definitely looked ready in doubles play, winning
all three matches to take the doubles point. Junior Missy Wright and
sophomore Gretchen Haynor got the 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles. Senior Lynsey
Fick and sophomore Melissa Woods won 9-7 at No. 2 and junior Melissa
Iqbal and Burgarello won 9-8 at No. 3.
"I definitely thought that getting the doubles
point was huge," freshman Shawna Zuccarini said. "It took the pressure
off the singles a little bit, but we knew we still had a lot of work
to get the win."
Haynor and Burgarello won singles matches at No.
2 and No. 5 respectively, while three Hawkeyes — Toni Nekova at
No. 1, Cassie Haas at No. 3 and Jennifer Hodgman at No. 6 — took
points to even the score at three, with the No. 4 singles match still
in progress.
At No. 4, Zuccarini took the first set 6-1, but
lost a close second set 6-7. Zuccarini said one of her teammates knew
the match was close.
"Before the match, I talked to Lynsey (Fick),"
Zuccarini said. "She was going to be starting her match soon and she
told me, 'whatever you do, don't make me the last point, don't make
me the one that decides it.' So the whole match, I'm thinking, 'I don't
want to let Lynsey down!'"
Zuccarini beat her opponent, Deni Alexandrova,
6-2 in the third to clinch the team win.
"I was on the other end of it at BYU; I lost in
three sets, so that was depressing," Zuccarini said. "But now winning
in three, it was amazing, I was so happy, my whole team was cheering;
it was an overwhelming feeling. There were a lot of our fans there,
which made it even more special."
"We've said all along that this team would be better
as the year progresses," Iandolo said of his young players. "As the
freshmen get more experience it allows them to more effectively deal
with intensity of Big Ten matches."
Iandolo also pointed out that although Iowa is
only ranked 48th in the nation, the Hawkeyes beat No. 26 Indiana the
next day, which makes him feel better about matches to come for his
team, such as Illinois and Northwestern this weekend.
"Illinois will be a competitive match," Iandolo
said. "They're one of the top two or three teams in the league so that's
an opportunity for us. Northwestern is ranked No. 11 in the nation and
are favorites to win the Big Ten. We're excited to be able to compete
with these teams. I think we're talented enough this season to challenge
the top teams."
The Boilermakers host Illinois at 1 p.m. Saturday
and Northwestern at 11 a.m. Sunday.
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