Sept. 15, 2012
DURHAM, N.C. - The Purdue women's tennis team wrapped up the second day at the Duke Fab Four Invite on Saturday. Lynda Xepoleas and Daniela Vidal had strong days for the Boilermakers.
Xepoleas began the day with a consolation doubles final teamed with Vidal. The duo battled Hamilton and Li from Yale to the end, but came up short, 9-8. Despite the loss, Xepoleas bounced back nicely in singles. The sophomore had another tough battle in her first match with Marija Milutinovic of Ole Miss. Xepoleas dropped the first set, 7-6, but didn't let the close loss affect her. She rebounded in the second for a 6-4 win to force a deciding set. There, the , native came out on top, 7-5 (4), to advance to the consolation semifinals.
In the semifinal, Xepoleas was matched with Hope Johnson from William & Mary. The Boilermaker dominated her second match of the day as she won, 6-2, 6-2. She will play on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. against Ester Goldfeld of Duke. Goldfeld is ranked No. 68 in the latest ITA poll.
Vidal faced Juliana Gajic of in the consolation bracket of the White Division on Saturday. There, the Boilermaker played strong and won, 6-2, 6-2, to advance to the semifinals. Vidal's next match was against Julia Jones of Ole Miss. The Boilermaker sophomore again was too much to handle as she was victorious, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5. Vidal will play for the consolation title on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. against Ashley Dai of North Carolina. Dai is ranked the 10th best freshman in the country.
Mara Schmidt also picked up a singles win on the day. The junior was faced with Natalia Maynetto of in the consolation bracket. There, Schmidt was dominant, winning in straight sets 7-5, 6-3. In the semifinal, though, Schmidt fell to Elizabeth Begley of , 6-4, 6-2. Schmidt will play on Sunday in the consolation third place match at 10:30 a.m. against Annat Rabinovich of .
Freshman Krisztina Kapitany had a tough day on the courts for Purdue. The Hungarian started the day with Schmidt in doubles playing for the consolation title in the White Division. There, the Purdue pair came up short falling 8-5 to Ellis and Scott of Texas. Following doubles, Kapitany played Rabinovich of Texas in singles. Despite a comeback attempt in the second set, Kapitany came up short, 6-1, 6-4. Next, she played Lauren Kline of Furman, but again couldn't quite come out victorious as she lost, 6-3, 6-0. Kapitany will play Laura Slater of in the 15th place match on Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
Check PurdueSports.com and the Purdue tennis Facebook and Twitter pages for updates on Sunday's matches. A full recap will be posted following Sunday's action.