University of Illinois
Purdue
Strong Singles Play Leads Illini to Victory over Purdue
April 30, 2010 | Women's Tennis
April 30, 2010
IOWA CITY, Iowa - After dropping the doubles point, the third-seeded Illini women's tennis team (15-8) secured the four singles wins it needed Friday afternoon to rally past sixth-seeded Purdue (17-6), 4-2 in the quarterfinal round of the 2010 Big Ten Tournament. With the win, Illinois advances to the semifinals where it will face No. 2-seed Northwestern on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT. The Illini will look to avenge a 5-2 loss suffered in the lone meeting of the season back on Feb. 26.
"We showed unbelievable resiliency today," head coach Michelle Dasso said. "We had our backs against the wall and the girls really gutted this one out. Purdue played very solid tennis today. Breanne (Smutko) and Leigh (Finnegan) dug down and we had to play inside on faster courts, which was challenging. It was a hard-fought win and we're anxious to play again tomorrow."
The Boilermakers opened the match strong, claiming wins at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles to take a 1-0 lead. Illinois, which entered the match just 2-6 when losing the doubles point, remained focus throughout singles and quickly evened the score at one apiece, as junior Marisa Lambropoulos topped Gisella Pere, 6-4, 6-1 to put the Illini on the board. Purdue responded with a win at No. 3 singles, before the Orange and Blue took the lead for good with three straight victories. Junior Leigh Finnegan upended No. 120 Jennifer Rabot, 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (5), followed by freshman Breanne Smutko over Anna Dushkina, 6-3, 6-1, and sophomore Chelcie Abajian clinched the match with a 6-3, 6-1 defeat of Imogen Golder.
In an interesting twist, the match was forced to be played indoors due to rain, where only four courts were available at a time for singles. At the coaches' meeting prior to the start of the tournament, Nos. 2,3,4 and 6 were randomly drawn as the first four matches that would be played. That left Abajian and senior Megan Fudge on the sidelines during Friday's match until initial matches were finished.
Live stats for Saturday's match against Northwestern will be available HERE. Visit fightingillini.com for complete results and recap throughout the weekend.
Match Results
#21 Illinois 4, #49 Purdue 2
Singles competition
1. Michelle Sammons (PUR) vs. #91 Megan Fudge (ILL) 5-7, 0-2, unfinished
2. Leigh Finnegan (ILL) def. #120 Jennifer Rabot (PUR) 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5)
3. Bhavani Tirumurti (PUR) def. Rachael White (ILL) 6-4, 6-3
4. Breanne Smutko (ILL) def. Anna Dushkina (PUR) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
5. Chelcie Abajian (ILL) def. Imogen Golder (PUR) 6-3, 6-1
6. Marisa Lambropoulos (ILL) def. Gisella Pere (PUR) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Michelle Sammons/Jennifer Rabot (PUR) def. Leigh Finnegan/Rachael White (ILL) 8-5
2. Megan Fudge/Chelcie Abajian (ILL) def. Gisella Pere/Anna Dushkina (PUR) 8-5
3. Imogen Golder/Bhavani Tirumurti (PUR) def. Marisa Lambropoulos/Breanne Smutko (ILL) 8-6
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (6,3,2,4,5)
