No. 22 Tennis Drops No. 49 Purdue, 6-1

Sunday, January 27

Knoxville, TN

University of Tennessee

Purdue

January 27, 2008 | Women's Tennis

Box Score

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ??? In a virtual repeat of its previous performance, the No. 22 University of Tennessee (4-0) defeated a Big Ten foe by a 6-1 score, as it took down No. 49 Purdue (1-1) on Sunday afternoon at the Knoxville Racquet Club. The victory improved the Lady Vols??? record to 4-0, matching their best start to a season since the 2002-03 campaign.

???This was a huge confidence builder,??? UT co-head coach Sonia Hahn-Patrick said. ???Although it counts as a home match for us, this really helped to prepare us to go on the road since we didn???t play at our normal home facility.

???We are very proud of how our team has progressed so far this season,??? Hahn-Patrick said. ???They have gotten better each match and have been applying what they have learned in practice. We are still in the learning process, but we showed a lot of fight and heart today which bodes well for us in the future.???

Unlike the day before, however, the Orange and White brought plenty of energy early in doubles play, cruising to a pair of wins to clinch the initial point of the match for the fourth time this season. Neither of UT???s top two pairings needed a late comeback against Purdue, easily claiming victories in their respective matches.

The No. 2-rated duo of sophomores Caitlin Whoriskey and Zs??fia Zubor was the first to finish, downing the Boilermaker combo of Cigdem Duru and Brooke Beier, 8-2, on center court. Shortly thereafter, the Tennessee tandem of senior Ghizela Schutte and freshman Rosal??a Alda, ranked 26th in the nation, ensured that the initial tally of the contest would go UT???s way with an 8-3 triumph over Purdue???s Stephanie Wooten and Alejandra Boeker at the second spot in the lineup.

With the doubles point already guaranteed to go to the Lady Vols, Purdue picked up its lone win, as Joanna Craven and Anna Dzeva defeated the Big Orange pairing of junior Samantha Orlin and freshman Jennifer Meredith, 8-7 (5).

Tennessee continued its strong play in the singles portion of the contest, wrapping up victories in five of the six matches to claim its second-consecutive 6-1 triumph. Playing at the fifth and sixth positions, Zubor and Alda put the Orange and White up by three tallies in almost no time at all. The 95th-ranked Zubor easily dispatched of Dzeva, 6-1, 6-2, while Alda blew past Boeker, 6-1, 6-1.

Needing just one more point to seal the team victory, UT turned to Meredith at the fifth slot in the singles lineup. The Marietta, Ga., native was able to finish off the Boilermakers, taking Craven out, 6-3, 6-2, to earn her second match-clinching victory of the season.

Although the outcome was already decided, the trio of Lady Vols still on the court continued to fight. After dropping her first set to Beier, Whoriskey bounced back in impressive fashion to pick up a 3-6, 6-0, 1-0 (2), victory and remain perfect from the No. 1 position in dual-match play this year.

Purdue finally got its first point of the match, as Wooten emerged victorious in an extremely tightly contested match with Orlin, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 1-0 (8), on the third court. Tennessee, however, answered right back with a 6-4, 7-5 triumph by Schutte over Duru at the second position to close out the afternoon.

The Lady Vols will begin a month-long, six-match road trip next weekend, when they travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., to take on No. 21 Wake Forest. First serve is set for 2 p.m. at the University Indoor Tennis Center.

No. 22 University of Tennessee 6, No. 49 Purdue University 1

SINGLES
1.	Caitlin Whoriskey (UT)	def.	Brooke Beier (PUR)	3-6, 6-0, 1-0 (2)
2.	Ghizela Schutte (UT)	def.	Cigdem Duru (PUR)	6-4, 7-5
3.	Stephanie Wooten (PUR)	def.	Samantha Orlin (UT)	6-3, 6-7 (4), 1-0 (8)
4.	Jennifer Meredith (UT)	def.	Joanna Craven (PUR)	6-3, 6-2
5.	#95 Zs??fia Zubor (UT)	def.	Anna Dzeva (PUR)	6-1, 6-2
6.	Rosal??a Alda (UT)	def.	Alejandra Boeker (PUR)	6-1, 6-1
DOUBLES??
1.	No. 2 Caitlin Whoriskey/Zs??fia Zubor (UT)	def.	Cigdem Duru/Brooke Beier (PUR)	8-2
2.	No. 26 Ghizela Schutte/Rosal??a Alda (UT)	def.	Stephanie Wooten/Alejandra Boeker (PUR)	8-3
3.	Joanna Craven/Anna Dzeva (PUR)	def.	Jennifer Meredith/Samantha Orlin (UT)	8-7 (5)