WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's tennis team played its final home match of the season inside the Schwartz Tennis Center on Sunday, losing 4-2 to border-rival Illinois. The Boilermakers' last four matches of the regular season are on the road, starting with Minnesota on Friday at 4 p.m. ET.
Prior to facing the Fighting Illini, three seniors were recognized by head coach Laura Glitz and assistant coach Anthony Nguyen; Natalia Davila, Andjela Djokovic and Deborah Suarez will all graduate this May.
The three have been staples in Purdue's lineup the past two seasons, and all started in Sunday's match, which began positively for the Boilermakers.
The women secured the doubles point with wins on courts one and three. No. 51 Rafaella Baquerizo and partner Djokovic defeated Louise Kwong and Ines Vias 6-3 on the first, with senior Davila and Alex Sabe besting Alexis Casati and D. Pedraza Novak 6-3 on the third.
In singles, Purdue started out slow, dropping five of the six first sets, but appeared to turn things around in the second. Both Caitlin Calkins and Davila evened their individual scores, with Baquerizo and Sabe leading. However, Calkins was the only Boilermaker to carry her momentum to the end of the match, defeating Grace Tapak 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 on court six.
Baquerizo and Sabe both fell in two -- 7-5, 6-4 to Madie Baillon and 6-4, 6-3 to Casati, respectively, with Davila dropping her three-setter 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 against Pedraza Novak.
After winning the first, Djokovic's match was suspended at the clinch.
With Sunday's decision, the Boilermakers will likely need three victories on the road to qualify for the 2017 Big Ten Women's Tennis Tournament; unlike the men's, only the top ten teams are invited each season.