April 15, 2012
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The No. 34 Purdue women's tennis team pulled off an impressive road upset on Sunday afternoon at No. 31 Minnesota. The Boilermakers took down the Golden Gophers, 4-3.
Purdue (14-4, 6-3 Big Ten) gained momentum from the start as it won the doubles point. Jennifer Rabot and Mara Schmidt gave the Boilermakers an early edge after they defeated the No. 45 doubles team in the nation, Natallia Pintusava and Magdalena Wiecha, 8-5. Next, Gisella Pere and Imogen Golder clinched the point with a win at No. 3. The juniors beat Tereza Brichacova and Aria Lambert, 8-5. Daniela Vidal and Lynda Xepoleas came up just short at No. 2 as they fell, 8-6.
The Boilermakers didn't let Minnesota (14-6, 4-5 Big Ten) make it a match as singles play began. Pere made the score 2-0 with a win at No. 6 over Yuliana Umanets, 6-2, 6-3. Golder then brought Purdue within a point of victory with a win at No. 5. She knocked off Lambert, 6-3, 6-3.
Xepoleas clinched the match as she gave the Boilermakers a 4-0 lead with a win at No. 2. The freshman showed her resilience as she held on in a three setter, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. From there, Minnesota won the remaining three matches, all in three sets including one in a third set tiebreak and the other a 7-6 decision in the final frame.
Purdue improves to 14-26 against Minnesota all-time. The Boilermakers have also won three in a row in the series and also seven of the last 10.
The Boilermakers still sit alone in fifth place in the conference, just one game behind Nebraska and Illinois who both won on Sunday.
Purdue will be back in action this weekend as it wraps up Big Ten play. On Friday, the ladies will play at Northwestern who is currently tied for the Big Ten lead at 8-1 in the conference. Sunday, the women will host Illinois. Two wins for the Old Gold and Black would keep Big Ten regular season title hopes alive, but Michigan and Northwestern would need to lose their remaining two matches for that to happen and Nebraska to lose at least once. Complete standings can be found here.