March 10, 2001

The Fighting Illini easily beat the Purdue Boilermakers, 6-1, Saturday afternoon at the Atkins Tennis Center in dual-match action. Illinois dominated from the beginning of the match, winning all but one singles point.

The Illini began by sweeping all three doubles matches to capture the first point. At No.1 doubles, seniors Carla Rosenberg and Simone Kung won, 8-5, while at No.2, sophomores Michelle Webb and Eldina Fazlic were victorious, 8-3, as were a new doubles team of freshmen, Jennifer McGaffigan and Tiffany Eklov. Eklov and McGaffigan played together because another freshman, Eva Choe, was held out of action due to leg spasms.

In singles, Webb set the tone early with a straight-set, 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 5 over Gretchen Haynor. McGaffigan (6-1, 6-1) at No. 1, Kung (6-1, 6-2) at No.4, and Rosenberg (7-5, 6-2) at No. 6, also earned straight-set wins, with Kung's as the match-clinching victory. Also, freshman came back to win Tiffany Eklov won on No. 3, 4-6, 6-1, (10-7).

"Overall, I was pleased. Every match in the Big Ten is a tough match. We came out really sharp today. We played a terrific match against a tough team," said Head Coach Sujay Lama. "We controlled doubles and won the important doubles point, and we were tough when the match was being decided."

Illinois' next match is Sunday, March 11, at Atkins Tennis Center against Indiana. The match is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.

"Indiana is a tough team and they are playing extremely well right now," Lama added. "It will be a heck of a match, they are a good team and we respect them, but we need to focus on ourselves and play like we did today. If we do that we will do well."

"We're excited to play Indiana, last year's match was really close (4-3, Illinois). We need to come out and take it to them and be ready to play," said sophomore Michelle Webb.

Today's Illinois Results:

SINGLES
1. Jennifer McGaffigan (ILL) def. Erika Quebe	        6-1, 6-1
2. Melissa Iqbal (PUR) def. Eldina Fazlic (ILL)	        3-6, 7-5, 10-7
3. Tiffany Eklov (ILL) def. Melissa Woods (ILL)	        4-6, 6-1, 10-7
4. Simone Kung (ILL) def. Lisa Walgenbach (PUR)	        6-1, 6-2*
5. Michelle Webb (ILL) def. Gretchen Haynor (PUR)	6-1, 6-1
6. Carla Rosenberg (ILL) def. Lynsey Fick (PUR)	        7-5, 6-2

DOUBLES

1. Simone Kung/Carla Rosenberg (ILL) def. Melissa Iqbal/Lynsey Fick (PUR) 8-5

2. Eldina Fazlic/Michelle Webb (ILL) def. Melissa Woods/Gretchen Haynor (PUR) 8-3

3. Jennifer McGaffigan/Tiffany Eklov (ILL) def. Lisa Walgenbach/Erika Quebe (PUR) 8-3

* Match-clinching victory