March 25, 2012
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The No. 27 Purdue women's tennis team fell by the slimmest of margins on Sunday at No. 46 Penn State. The match came down to the final set as the Boilermakers fell, 4-3.
Penn State (10-4) battled Purdue evenly in doubles and singles play. The Boilermakers were able to win the first doubles match as Lynda Xepoleas and Daniela Vidal knocked of Marie Bedard and Nina Sertic at No. 2, 8-1. However, the Nittany Lions would take the next two. Sarah Henderson and Fernanda Perrotta knocked off Gisella Pere and Anna Dushkina at No. 3, 8-4. At No. 1, Chelsea Utting and Petra Januskova snuck by Jennifer Rabot and Mara Schmidt, 9-7.
The Nittany Lions would build on that lead quickly. Januskova, the No. 55 player in the country, took down Rabot at No. 1, 6-0, 6-0. Schmidt would respond, though, as she got back to her winning ways with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 3 to cut the deficit to 2-1. Vidal leveled the score with a win at No. 4. The freshman topped Perrotta, 6-3, 7-5.
Purdue (10-2) never could quite take the lead, though. Xepoleas fell at No. 2, 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, to Utting. The Boilermakers would again tie the score as Pere showed great poise down the stretch. The junior came back to win, 5-7, 6-1, 7-5. That would mean that the match came down to the final court, No. 6 with Dushkina and Bedard. Dushkina would lead in the third set, 4-1, but Bedard would find her rhythm. The Nittany Lion came back to win, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, to clinch the match.
The loss snapped Purdue's nine match winning streak.
The Boilermakers will be back in action next weekend as they host Michigan on Saturday and Michigan State on Sunday.