Feb. 4, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The No. 48 Purdue women's tennis team took the doubles point as well as five of six singles matches on Saturday en route to a 6-1 win at No. 71 Kentucky.
Purdue (2-1) had its hands full in doubles as it fell a game down off the bat. Jennifer Rabot and Mara Schmidt got knocked off by Caitlin McGraw and Edmee Morin-Kougoucheff, 8-5, at No. 1. However, the freshmen evened the score with a win at No. 3. Lynda Xepoleas and Daniela Vidal topped Stephanie Fox and CeCe Witten, 8-3. The Point came down to the Purdue juniors at No. 2.
Gisella Pere and Imogen Golder were back and forth with Jessica Stiles and Marni Venter all match long. With the match tied at seven, the Purdue duo turned it up. Pere and Golder won the last two games to win the match, 9-7, and the doubles point for the Boilermakers.
The momentum stayed with the Old Gold and Black throughout singles play. Rabot made the score 2-0 with a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 2 over McGraw. Xepoleas quickly swelled the lead to 3-0 with a win in her first ever appearance in the No. 1 singles spot. The freshman from California took down Stiles in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
Vidal didn't waste any time clinching the match for Purdue. She played tough at No. 4 en route to a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Morin-Kougoucheff. Schmidt made it 5-0 with a straight sets win at No. 3. The sophomore beat Fox, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Kentucky (3-1) finally got on the board with a win at No. 5. Witten pulled out a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Anna Dushkina. Pere wrapped up the afternoon's action with one final win for the Boilermakers. She made the final score 6-1 in favor of Purdue with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Misha Testerman.
The Boilermakers improve their all-time record to 5-17 against Kentucky including a current three match win streak.
Purdue will play again tomorrow as they make the trip down the road to Louisville to take on the Cardinals. Sunday's match is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. ET.
Box Score
FINAL: Purdue 6, Louisville 1
Doubles:
1) McGraw/Morin-Kougoucheff (UK) def. Rabot/Schmidt (PU) 8-5
2) Golder/Pere (PU) def. Stiles/Venter (UK) 9-7
3) Xepoleas/Vidal (PU) def. Fox/Witten (UK) 8-3
Singles:
1) Lynda Xepoleas (PU) def. Jessica Stiles (UK) 6-4, 6-3
2) Jennifer Rabot (PU) def. Caitlin McGraw (UK) 6-3, 6-1
3) Mara Schmidt (PU) def. Stephanie Fox (UK) 6-3, 7-6 (4)
4) Daniela Vidal (PU) def. Edmee Morin-Kougoucheff (UK) 7-5, 6-4
5) CeCe Witten (UK) def. Anna Dushkina (PU) 6-2, 6-1
6) Gisella Pere (PU) def. Misha Testerman (UK) 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish:
Singles: 2, 1, 4*, 3, 5, 6
Doubles: 1, 3, 2*
*clinched