April 26, 2014
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Purdue women's tennis team struck with a pair of upsets in doubles, but the fourth-seeded Boilermakers' bid to take down top-seeded Michigan fell short, 4-1, in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament Saturday at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center. The 17th-ranked Wolverines (21-3) captured their four points in singles play to advance into the championship match Sunday. No. 41 Purdue bows out of the tournament with a record of 12-10.
Less than a week ago, Michigan's two nationally ranked doubles teams at Nos. 1 and 2 dominated their Boilermaker opponents. Purdue avenged both losses Saturday while also mixing up the lineup. Playing together for the first time, senior Mara Schmidt and freshman Andjela Djokovic controlled Emina Bektas and Brooke Bolender from first to last serve to upset the 17th-ranked Wolverine pair, 8-3, in the No. 1 spot.
When they met on April 20, Krisztina Kapitany and Natalia Davila were dealt an 8-1 setback when they faced Ronit Yurovsky and Laura Ucros. This time around it was the Boilermaker duo who raced out with a hot start and built a substantial lead, but had No. 80 Yurovsky and Ucros fight back to force the breaker. Kapitany and Davila rode their early momentum and found fuel from the upset at No. 1 to prevail past the Michigan pair, 8-7 (9-7), earning the doubles point for Purdue.
Doubles went all the Boilermakers' way and singles went all the Wolverines' way. Michigan's rally stemmed from its three nationally ranked singles players, who all won in straight sets and gave up just 10 games to Purdue players.
The Wolverines received victories from 10th-ranked Bektas at No. 1, No. 124 Sarah Lee at No. 3 and No. 125 Amy Zhu in the No. 5 position. Bolender also won at No. 4 in straight sets and clinched the dual.
Boilermakers Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum and Claudia Escribens had each taken a set from their Michigan opponents, but their matches were abandoned once the Wolverines claimed the fourth point.
Purdue will now wait until April 29 to see if they will receive one of 32 at-large bids available to join the 64-team field of the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships. The women's team bracket selection show will be streamed on NCAA.com at 5:30 p.m. ET. The singles and doubles selections will be streamed at NCAA.com on April 30 at 6 p.m.
No. 1 Michigan 4, No. 4 Purdue 1 | Box Score
Doubles
1: Mara Schmidt/Andjela Djokovic (Purdue) def. No. 17 Emina Bektas/Brooke Bolender (Michigan), 8-3
2: Krisztina Kapitany/Natalia Davila (Purdue) def. No. 80 Ronit Yurovsky/Laura Ucros (Michigan), 8-7 (9-7)
3: Sarah Lee/Amy Zhu (Michigan) vs. Nicole Robinson/Claudia Escribens (Purdue), 7-5 DNF
Singles
1: No. 10 Emina Bektas (Michigan) def. Mara Schmidt (Purdue), 6-1, 6-2
2: No. 22 Ronit Yurovsky (Michigan) vs. Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum (Purdue), 6-1, 4-6, 3-3 DNF
3: No. 124 Sarah Lee (Michigan) def. Nicole Robinson (Purdue), 6-1, 6-2
4: Brooke Bolender (Michigan) def. Krisztina Kapitany (Purdue), 6-2, 6-4
5: No. 125 Amy Zhu (Michigan) def. Andjela Djokovic (Purdue), 6-2, 6-2
6: Laura Ucros (Michigan) vs. Claudia Escribens (Purdue), 5-7, 4-1 DNF