April 23, 2010
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IOWA CITY, IA – The No. 28 University of Iowa women’s tennis team secured a number four seed going into the Big Ten Championships with a win Friday night over No. 52 Purdue. The Hawkeyes honored their senior student-athletes and sent them off on a high note with the 6-1 victory.
Hawkeye doubles teams kept it exciting for the crowd at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex. Senior Kelcie Klockenga and junior Jessica Young started off the winning streak for Iowa. The duo forced a tie break after being down 6-7. The Hawkeyes pushed through the tie break with ease and took down Anna Dushkina and Gisella Pere 9-8(7-2).
Lynne Poggensee-Wei and Alexis Dorr secured the doubles point for Iowa with their 9-7 win over Bhavani Tirumurti and Imogen Golder. Thirteenth ranked Merel Beelen and Sonja Molnar were locked up going into a tie break against Jennifer Rabot and Michelle Sammons in the final doubles match. The opponents challenged the Hawkeyes each time it looked as if the ranked duo was going to pull away, but Iowa held on to finish the match with a 9-8(9-7) win.
“Across the board in doubles play, our players did a great job of keeping control,” Head Coach Katie Dougherty said. “They kept the momentum and stepped up to win big points.”
Young continued her hot steak through singles competition, defeating Dushkina 6-1, 6-1 in the fourth spot to put Iowa up 2-0. Molnar, ranked 66th individually, secured a win for the Hawkeyes with straight sets of 6-2, 6-1 over Sammons in the number one spot.
Beelen and Klockenga were successful during their senior night performances. Beelen, a Grubbenvorst, Holland native, posted a 7-5, 6-4 win over Tirumurti, and Klockenga, an Overland Park, Kansas native, recorded a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Golder.
“Both of our seniors had great nights,” said Dougherty. “Tonight was a great team effort. Purdue is a very good team, and this win was good for us.”
The Black and Gold are back on the courts next week when Iowa hosts the 2010 Big Ten Women’s Tennis Championships at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex. Matches are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Thursday and continue through to the championship match at noon Sunday. Admission is free to the event and live stats will be available for all matches on www.hawkeyesports.com.
Singles Competition
1. #66 Sonja Molnar (Iowa) def. Michelle Sammons (Purdue) 6-2, 6-1
2. Lynne Poggensee-Wei (Iowa) def. Jennifer Rabot (Purdue) 7-6,6-3
3. Merel Beelen (Iowa) def. Bhavani Tirumurti (Purdue) 7-5, 6-4
4. Jessica Young (Iowa) def. Anna Dushkina (Purdue) 6-1, 6-2
5. Kelcie Klockenga (Iowa) def. Imogen Golder (Purdue) 6-2, 6-3
6. Gisella Pere (Purdue) def. Alexis Dorr (Iowa) 6-4, 7-6(7-1)
Exhibition Remi Martin (Purdue) def. Ally Majercik (Iowa) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles Competition
1. #13 Molnar/Beelen (Iowa) def. Rabot/Sammons (Purdue) 9-8(9-7)
2. Klockenga/Young (Iowa) def. Dushkina/Pere (Purdue) 9-8 (7-2)
3. Poggensee-Wei/Dorr (Iowa) def. Tirumurti/Golder (Purdue) 9-7