Oct. 2, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Purdue women's tennis team wrapped up a dominant weekend that featured three singles flight champions and another in doubles in the Wildcat Invite hosted by the University of Kentucky.
Freshman Lynda Xepoleas and Daniela Vidal won singles flights A and B, respectively, while junior Gisella Pere took the C flight championship. Xepoleas faced Eastern Kentucky's Jessica Albuquerque in the first round of the eight player draw and came out on top, 6-2, 6-3. In the semifinal, she faced Jessica Stiles of the hosting Wildcats. The first year Boilermaker played a solid, consistent match and advanced to the finals with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. In the finals on Sunday, she faced Armstrong Atlantic's Barbora Krtickova. Xepoleas capped off her impressive tournament with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 thrashing to claim the championship.
In the B flight, Vidal had a difficult first round matchup with the top recruit from the state of West Virginia, a five-star recruit according to tennisrecruiting.com, and the No. 38 freshman in the country, Stephanie Fox of Kentucky. After a tough first set, the Purdue freshman bounced back and advanced with a 1-6, 6-0, 6-1 triumph. In the semifinals, the native of Venezuela faced Kansas' Paulina Los. Vidal rode the momentum from her first match to a solid performance en route to a 6-2, 6-3 win. In the finals, Vidal faced Armstrong Atlantic's Aleksandra Filipovski, who had already knocked off Boilermaker Mara Schmidt in the B Flight's other semifinal. Vidal wouldn't let her get two over the Old Gold and Black as she claimed the B Flight title with a 6-1, 6-4 victory.
Pere faced instate foe Dora Kotsiou of Evansville in the first round of the C Flight. The Purdue junior prevailed, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the semifinals. There, she faced Kentucky's Khristina Blajkevitch. Pere hung on in the second set for a 6-2, 7-6 (4) win to advance to the finals. Marlen Hacke of Armstrong Atlantic awaited her there and had plenty of experience facing the Boilermakers. In the first round, Hacke took down Anna Dushkina, 6-1, 6-2. In the semifinals, she knocked off Imogen Golder, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, in a back and forth battle. However, in the finals, Pere made it a clean sweep of the top three flights as she knocked off Hacke in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2.
Also in the singles tournament were Jennifer Rabot, Schmidt, Golder, Dushkina, and Kay Kay Magi. Rabot advanced to the semifinals of the A draw by knocking off Cleveland State's Maria Lazaris, 6-4, 6-2. There, she fell to Krtickova, 6-3, 7-5, to fall to the third place match. In that match, she faced Kentucky's Stiles, but again fell, 6-2, 6-2, to claim fourth place.
Schmidt advanced past Eastern Kentucky's Amandine Faouzi in the first round of the B flight, 7-5, 6-0, before falling in the semifinals to Filipovski, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1. Schmidt dropped to the third place match where she atoned for her mistakes en route to a 6-0, 6-0 blanking of Kansas' Los.
Golder won her first match in the C flight over Kansas' Karen Hernandez, 6-4, 6-3. However, in the semifinals, she fell to Hacke in the aforementioned back and forth battle. She then dropped to the third place match where she fell due to a walkover.
Dushkina fell in the first round of the C flight to AAU's Hacke to drop her to the consolation draw. Once there, though, she was impressive. In the consolation semifinals, she dropped Kansas' Hernandez, 6-2, 6-0, to advance to the consolation finals. There, she dominated Evansville's Kotsiou, 6-1, 6-2, to take the consolation championship. Magi competed in the singles D flight, but went 0-3 for the tournament.
In the doubles A draw, Rabot teamed with Schmidt and dominated their first round match up against Eastern Kentucky's Albuquerque and Faouzi, 8-1. In the semifinals, though, the duo fell to Kansas' Los and Pezzotti, 8-5, to drop them to the third place match. There, the Purdue pair faced Evansville's James and Kotsiou, but fell, 8-6, to take fourth place.
Freshmen Xepoleas and Vidal teamed to compete in the doubles B flight. The rookie duo took down Kentucky's Fox and McGraw, 8-4, to move on to the semis. AAU's Hacke and Kalodzitsa awaited and took knocked out the freshmen, 8-1. In the third place match, Xepoleas and Vidal defeated Evansville's Dzakula and Raatz, 8-4, to claim third place.
Pere and Golder teamed up in the doubles C draw and took down Evansville's Fifer and Richardson, 8-1. In the semifinals, the duo faced Morehead State's Garrett and Cran. The Purdue juniors were again victorious, advancing to the finals with an 8-5 win. In the finals, Pere was able to cap an undefeated weekend in both singles and doubles, 6-0 combined, after she and Golder knocked off Cleveland State's Power and Bush, 8-1, to take the C flight title.
Dushkina and Magi were also in the doubles C draw. The duo fell in the first round to Power and Bush, 8-5, to fall back to the consolation draw. There, they topped AAU's Henry and Perez, 8-6, to move on to the finals. Kentucky's Trimple and Pickett awaited them, but the Purdue pair was too much as they took the consolation championship, 8-3.