March 30, 2013
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The No. 17 Purdue women's tennis team suffered a tough loss to the Big Ten's top-ranked team on Saturday. The No. 10 Michigan Wolverines won the match, 6-1.
Purdue (11-2, 3-1 B1G) started off the afternoon by dominating the doubles matches. Lynda Xepoleas and Daniela Vidal were first to finish as they picked up a ranked win at No. 2. The sophomores knocked off the No. 49 pair in the country of Ronit Yurovsky and Sarah Lee, 8-4. The match was clinched with the highest ranked win of any kind for the Boilermakers. Mara Schmidt and Krisztina Kapitany, the No. 39 duo in the country, defeated the No. 2 doubles team in the country of Brooke Bolender and Emina Bektas, 8-5. Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum and Gisella Pere were also ahead 7-4 at No. 3 when the point was decided.
Michigan (13-3, 4-0) responded in singles. The Wolverines took all six first sets in the outdoor match. The No. 20 singles player in the country, Bektas, was first to finish. She knocked off Schmidt who played her first career match at the top singles spot. Bolender was next to finish with a win at No. 4. She handed Bernard-Feigenbaum the first dual match singles loss of her career in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2.
The No. 76 singles player in the country clinched the win for Michigan. Lee defeated Vidal at No. 3, 7-6 (7), 6-1. Amy Zhu then won at No. 6. She gave Pere her second singles loss of the season with a 6-4, 6-3 decision. Mimi Nguyen needed three sets to defeat Kapitany at No. 5. Nguyen took the first set, 6-4, before Kapitany took the second by the same score. Nguyen was up 3-0 in the third set before the Purdue freshman retired. The No. 39 singles player in the country completed the singles sweep for Michigan. Yurovsky defeated Xepoleas, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.
The loss is Purdue's first since Jan. 26 against Northwestern in a non-conference match. It also snapped a 10-match winning streak that is the longest such streak in program history.
The Boilermakers will look to bounce back from the loss on Sunday at Michigan State. The Boilermakers and Spartans are scheduled for a noon ET first serve.
No. 10 Michigan vs. No. 17 Purdue
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 20 Emina Bektas (U-M) d. Mara Schmidt (PU), 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 -- No. 39 Ronit Yurovsky (U-M) d. Lynda Xepoleas (PU), 7-5, 4-6, 6-1
No. 3 -- No. 76 Sarah Lee d. Daniela Vidal (PU), 7-6 (7), 6-1
No. 4 -- Brooke Bolender (U-M) d. Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum (PU), 6-1, 6-2
No. 5 -- Mimi Nguyen (U-M) d. Krisztina Kapitany (PU), 6-4, 4-6, 0-3 retired
No. 6 -- Amy Zhu (U-M) d. Gisella Pere (PU), 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- Krisztina Kapitany/Mara Schmidt (PU) d. No. 2 Brooke Bolender/Emina Bektas (U-M), 8-5
No. 2 -- Lynda Xepoleas/Daniela Vidal (PU) d. No. 49 Ronit Yurovsky/Sarah Lee (U-M), 8-4
No. 3 -- Mimi Nguyen/Amy Zhu (U-M) vs. Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum/Gisela Pere (PU), 4-7 DNF
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-1; Singles 1-4-3-6-5-2