Jan. 17, 2014
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 27 Purdue women's tennis team cruised past its competition on the first day of the Purdue Invite Friday on the Basham Courts of the Schwartz Tennis Center. The Boilermakers took on Miami (Ohio) and Kansas in doubles action, winning five of six matches, followed by singles against No. 70 Louisville, where they took five of six.
Mara Schmidt and Krisztina Kapitany made easy work of Red Hawk tandem Christina Raymond and Andreea Badileanu in their first match, winning 6-2. Their second match was pushed into the tiebreaker, where they emerged with a 7-6 (7-3) victory over Kansas' Maria Jose Cardona and Maria Belen Ludueña.
Also going 2-0 in doubles play for the Boilermakers were Lynda Xepoleas and Daniela Vidal. The junior duo first defeated Nimisha Mohan and Christine Guerrazzi of Miami, 6-4, and came back with a dominate 6-1 win over the Jayhawk team of Paulina Los and Caroline Henderson.
Pairing together against Miami, Purdue freshmen Nicole Robinson and Natalia Davila recorded a 6-2 decision of Alix Thurman and Ramona Costea.
The Boilermakers won four of their five singles matches over Louisville in straight sets, limiting the Cardinals to just 20 points. Krisztina Kapitany shut Olivia Boesing out in the second set, en route to a 6-4, 6-0 win at the No. 6 spot. In the No. 5 position, sophomore Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum rolled past Cassie Pough in dominating fashion, 6-1, 6-2.
Mara Schmidt dropped the first set to Rebecca Shine, 6-3, but rallied and took the second set 6-1 to force the tiebreaker. The Bradenton, Fla., native, who is currently ranked No. 110, went back and forth with Shine, but it was the Boilermaker who came out on top, 10-8.
The tournament is a hidden dual-match format, meaning each team will play each other once in singles and doubles, though a particular team will not play singles and doubles against the same team on the same day.
On Saturday Purdue will match up against Louisville at 9 a.m. ET in doubles, followed by singles at 10 a.m. vs. Kansas. The Boilermakers will end Saturday's play in a singles match at 3 p.m., taking on Miami. A singles match on Sunday at noon, with Purdue taking on Louisville, will conclude the tournament.