Oct. 18, 2011
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The ITA women's tennis regionals wrapped up on Tuesday morning and though it was the No. 5 seeded Wu from Vanderbilt that took the main draw singles championship, several Boilermakers had great weekends.
Freshman Lynda Xepoleas put together a 2-1 record in singles play at the regional. In her opening round, she knocked off Morin of Kentucky, 6-0, 6-2. She advanced to face Lee from Cincinnati in the round of 32 on Sunday. There, the Purdue freshman breezed to the round of 16 with a 6-0, 6-4 victory. Next, Xepoleas, the No. 14 seed, was matched up against the No. 1 overall seed Pluskota from Tennessee. Though the Huntington Beach, Calif., native battled, she fell to the Lady Volunteer, 2-6, 2-6.
Imogen Golder had a 1-1 singles record for the weekend. She knocked off Patton of Xavier on Saturday, 6-2, 6-1, but fell to the No. 9 seed Fellerhoff of Louisville in the round of 32, 2-6, 1-6. Purdue sophomore Mara Schmidt went 2-1 in the tournament. She upset No. 15 seeded Toti of Tennessee in the first round, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday. On Sunday in the round of 32, she defeated Hibberd of Memphis, 7-6 (5), 6-2. In the round of 16, though, she fell to Big Ten rival and No. 4 overall seed Vertesheva of Indiana, 2-6, 0-6.
Daniela Vidal was 1-1 on the weekend in singles. The freshman beat UT-Martin's Van Zyl, 7-5, 6-1, in the first round, but fell 1-6, 1-6 to Collins of Memphis, the No. 3 seed overall. Jennifer Rabot, the No. 6 seed, went 2-1 on the weekend. She knocked off Gray of Memphis, 6-4, 6-3, and Nurik of UT Chattanooga, 6-0, 6-2. However, in the round of 16, she fell 6-3, 5-7, 4-6.
Anna Dushkina had a strong weekend with a 3-1 overall record. She had to come out of the qualifying bracket and did so by winning two matches in bracket play. Then in the main draw, she beat Weilizzko of East Tennessee State, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. In the round of 32, though, she lost to Mikesz of Memphis, 6-3, 6-7 (7), 4-6. Gisella Pere was 1-1 on the weekend. The junior fell in the main draw to Shine of Louisville, 1-6, 2-6, to put her in the back draw. There, she knocked off Honiball of Miami (Ohio), 6-1, 6-4. She was then scheduled to play Hedrick of Butler, but retired in a walkover.
Kay Kay Magi also was 1-1 on the weekend in singles play. She defeated Parr of Miami (Ohio), 6-0, 6-3, before falling to Patton of Xavier by the same score. In doubles, the duo of Magi and Dushkina had to come out of qualifiers to make the main draw, but the duo was able to do so with wins over Caire and Stack of Belmont, 8-4, and Costea and Castro of Miami (Ohio), 8-3, on Friday. In the main draw, the pair topped Flynn and Singh of UT Chattanooga, 8-4, before falling to Mira and Wu of Vanderbilt, 3-8.
Vidal and Xepoleas formed a freshmen pair and the No. 5 seed that topped Alkine and Westling of Xaiver in the first round of the main draw, 8-6. However, in the round of 16, the duo fell to Welcher and Hibberd of Memphis, 6-8. Pere and Golder also paired up and they fell in the first round to the eventual champions, the No. 6 seed Pluskota and Szekely of Tennessee, 3-8. In the back draw, though, Pere and Golder got past Pleiman and Wolf of Xavier by default. Then, they knocked off Raymond and Parr of Miami (Ohio), 8-6, before retiring from the tournament by walkover due to travel arrangements.
Rabot and Schmidt paired up and earned the main draw's No. 2 overall doubles seed. In the first round, the pair knocked off Miller and Brown of Louisville, 8-6. However, in the round of 16, they were upset by Velasquez and Harris of Louisville, 6-8.
The women are off until Nov. 4 when they host the Schwartz Tennis Challenge. The event will include matches against Georgia Tech, Illinois, and Iowa and lasts until Nov. 6.