April 7, 2012
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 34 Purdue women's tennis team lost a heartbreaker in an even conference matchup on Saturday at the Schwartz Tennis Center. The Boilermakers fell to No. 17 Nebraska 5-2 in the first ever meeting between the two schools.
Purdue (11-4, 3-3 Big Ten) took the doubles point by winning matches at Nos. 2 and 3. First, the Boilermakers took the match at No. 2 with Daniela Vidal and Lynda Xepoleas. The freshmen knocked off Patricia Veresova and Mary Weatherholt, 8-4. The Cornhuskers came back, though, with a win at No. 1. The No. 40 doubles team in the nation knocked off Mara Schmidt and Jennifer Rabot, 8-5. With the doubles point on the line, Gisella Pere and Imogen Golder stepped up and won in dominant fashion, 8-3, over Izabella Zgierska and Janine Weinreich at No. 3.
Nebraska (19-2, 5-1) charged back in singles. The Huskers took the first two matches with wins at No. 1 and No. 5. The No. 40 singles player in the nation, Weatherholt, took down Rabot, 6-3, 6-2. Then, the No. 109 singles player, Weinreich, knocked off Golder, 6-2, 6-4, to give Nebraska a 2-1 lead.
Purdue came back with a win at No. 2. Xepoleas dominated her match from start to finish and completed a 6-3, 6-2 win over the No. 117 player in the country, Veresova. The Huskers wouldn't go away, though. Weinstein and Vidal went three sets after Vidal came back in the second to force the deciding frame. There, Weinstein came out on top to win, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, to give Nebraska the 3-2 lead.
Geibert clinched the match for the Huskers with a back-and-forth match at No. 3. Schmidt won the first set, 6-4, and seemed to take control. However, Geibert cameback and held on in the second for a 6-4 win of her own. In the third, Schmidt trailed 4-2 before storming back to even the score at four games apiece. From there, though, Geibert won the last two games to clinch the match, 6-4, and the win for Nebraska.
The final match wrapped up four hours and 16 minutes after the first serve of day after Pere retired for Purdue. Maike Zeppernick came out on top, 3-6, 7-5, 3-2. ret.
The Boilermakers are now 0-1 all-time against Nebraska.
Purdue will be back in action tomorrow at the Schwartz Tennis Center when it takes on Iowa. Match time is scheduled for noon ET and live scores will be available on PurdueSports.com.