March 15, 2012
LONG BEACH, Calif. - The No. 38 Purdue women's tennis team made a statement on Thursday with a 7-0 thumping at No. 37 Long Beach State.
"I thought we came out and we played great from the start," freshman Lynda Xepoleas said. "I thought despite it being the first outdoor match for us, we competed really well. We played great from the start."
Purdue (8-1) didn't waste any time getting ahead of the 49ers as the Boilermakers swept the doubles point. Freshmen Daniela Vidal and Xepoleas were first to finish with an 8-4 win at No. 3. Imogen Golder and Gisella Pere were next as the juniors clinched the point with a win at No. 2 over Anais Dallara and Klaudia Malenovska, 8-6. Jennifer Rabot and Mara Schmidt made it a clean sweep with a hard fought win at No. 1, 9-7.
Long Beach State (10-4) struggled to get anything going in singles as Purdue won five of the six first sets. In her homecoming, Xepoleas, a Huntington Beach, Calif. native, was outstanding. After her doubles win, the freshman was first to finish in singles with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 2 over Rachel Manasse. Manasse had a 9-2 record in the second spot prior to the match. Xepoleas' classmate, Vidal, was equally as impressive. Vidal made the score 3-0 with a 6-4, 6-2 win of her own at No. 4. She defeated Malenovska.
"My grandparents and family came out to watch," said Xepoleas. "It was great to be close to home so they could watch me. It was nice to be in the California sun and have great weather to play. We got lucky on the weather out here because it's been great. I love being able to come home and play and have a little bit of home cooking."
Golder wasted no time clinching the match in the Golden State as she also won in straight sets. The junior from New Zealand won at No. 6, 6-3, 6-2. Schmidt was next as the sophomore kept her perfect singles record intact. Schmidt improved to 12-0 on the season and 9-0 in dual match singles play with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Laura Bernard at No. 3. Bernard was 9-3 at No. 3 heading into Thursday's match.
Rabot had a nice come-from-behind win at No. 1. After dropping the first set to Dallara, 6-3, Rabot rallied to win the second, 6-4. Since the team match was already decided, Rabot and Dallara went into a tiebreak. There, Rabot won, 10-8. Pere completed the perfect day with a win at No. 5. After winning the first set, 6-3, the junior couldn't quite close out the match in straight sets as she dropped the set, 7-6. In the third set tiebreak, though, she came out victorious and finished off the sweep with a 10-5 win.
"Gisella (Pere) and Jenny (Rabot) did well to finish it out in the end," Xepoleas said after the match. "It was a good way to start our outdoor season with a win like that against a team higher ranked than us. It was great to come home and get a win like that. It was nice to show the team my hometown and where I am from as well as get a win here."
Purdue improves to 2-1 all-time against Long Beach State. The Boilers also have now won five matches this season against ranked opponents. Thursday's 7-0 win was the third time this season that the ladies have shutout their opponent. The other times came against Western Michigan and then-No. 66 Marshall. Thursday's win also extends Purdue's winning streak to seven matches in a row.
The Boilermakers will finish up their spring break trip tomorrow with a match against Dartmouth. The two teams will play at Long Beach State University. A full recap will be available following the completion of tomorrow's match.