Sept. 14, 2012
DURHAM, N.C. - The Purdue women's tennis team had a tough opening day at the Duke Fab Four Invitational on Friday. The Boilermakers managed to win two doubles matches on the day and battled with ranked foes in singles.
Sophomores Lynda Xepoleas and Daniela Vidal opened the day with a morning doubles match against North Carolina's pair of Slater and Suarez-Malaguti. The Purdue tandem came up just short as they fell, 9-7. The North Carolina pair went on to win its second match and will play for the doubles title in the Blue Division. Xepoleas and Vidal turned around and faced Begley and Gajic of Texas. The Boilermakers were dominant as they cruised to an 8-2 win. Xepoleas and Vidal will face Hamilton and Li of Yale in the consolation final on Saturday at 9 a.m. ET.
Mara Schmidt and Krisztina Kapitany started their morning off with a doubles match against Ester Goldfeld and Annie Mulholland of Duke. The Blue Devil duo is ranked No. 43 in the country. The Boilermakers battled tough, but came up short of the upset as they fell, 8-5. Goldfeld and Mulholland will play for the White Division Championship tomorrow. Schmidt and Kapitany rallied in their consolation bracket match. The duo outlasted the Alabama pair of Zabor and Maynetto, 9-8 (5). Schmidt and Kapitany will play for the White Division Consolation Championship Saturday morning at 9 a.m. against Ellis and Scott of Texas.
"I was pleased overall with our doubles play," head coach Laura Glitz said. "Krisztina and Mara played a good first round match against a tough Duke team and then beat an Alabama team in the next round. Dani and Lynda started off slowly in their first round, but did a good job of rebounding to beat a Texas team."
The Boilermakers turned around and played their opening singles matches in the afternoon. Kapitany was thrown into the action right away as she faced the No. 26 player in the country, Zoe DeBruycker of North Carolina. The Tar Heel proved too tough for the freshman on Friday as she won, 6-1, 6-2. Kapitany will play in the consolation bracket of the Blue Division on Saturday at 10 a.m. against Annat Rabinovich of Texas.
Schmidt also played in the Blue Division. The junior battled Kelsey Laurente of Miami (Fl.), but came up short as she lost 6-2, 6-4. Schmidt moves to the consolation bracket where she will face Alabama's Natalia Maynetto at 10 a.m. No. 121 Xepoleas competed in the Black Division against Tessa Lyons of North Carolina. Xepoleas came up short as the Tar Heel was victorious, 6-4, 6-2. Xepoleas moves to the consolation bracket where she will face Marija Milutinovic of Ole Miss at 10 a.m.
Vidal had arguably the best singles performance for the Boilermakers on Friday. The sophomore was faced with the No. 35 player in the country, Hanna Mar of Duke. Vidal started slow in the first set as she was topped 6-2. However, in the second set, Vidal flipped the tables. The Maracaibo, Venezuela, native dominated the second set as she won, 6-1. In the third set, though, Mar was resilient and outlasted Vidal, 6-3, to advance. Vidal will play in the White Division consolation bracket against Juliana Gajic of Texas.
"I thought Dani competed quite well against Mar from Duke," said Glitz. "The other singles were competitive, but I am hoping to see better footwork and intensity in the singles matches tomorrow."
Updates from Saturday's action can be found on the Purdue tennis Twitter feed (@PurdueTennis). A full recap, results, and an updated bracket will also be posted following the completion of Saturday's action at PurdueSports.com.