WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's tennis team returned to form Friday, defeating DePaul 5-2 inside the Schwartz Tennis Center. The victory was the Boilermakers' first after being swept 7-0 at Washington State on Feb. 3 and moved their overall record to 5-2 as well.
In doubles, Purdue had to fight back against the Blue Demons to take an early 1-0 lead. While Rafaella Baquerizo and Seira Shimizu cruised to a 6-3 victory over Aspasia Avgeri and Milica Tesic on court two, the team found itself far behind on the first and third.
At 4-2 DePaul, Silvia Ambrosio and Ena Babic needed to hold serve to keep their court one match within reach. However, Keisha Clousing and Patricia Lancranjan challenged Purdue's top tandem to deuce with no-ad scoring in effect. Ambrosio's next serve was good, but led to a lengthy rally that ended with a deep return by the junior transfer. The Blue Demons then capitalized on their second break, closing out the match at 6-2.
On court three, Caitlin Calkins and Alex Sabe faced an even larger deficit than their teammates at 5-2 in the decisive match. However, the sophomores battled back against Marija Jovicic and Alina Kuzmenkova to even the score a five all. After breaking the Blue Demons in the next game, Sabe then clinched the doubles point with a winner at 40-0.
In singles, the teams split the first six sets, but Purdue managed to secure five of the second to clinch the dual at 4-0. Shimizu finished first, defeating Kuzmenkova 6-2, 6-3 on court five. No. 79 Ambrosio exited next with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Clousing on court one, and Baquerizo secured the victory by the same score on court four against Jovicic.
Zala Dovnik, who did not compete in doubles, fell 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to Tesic on court six following the clinch, while Babic finished fifth with a three-set victory of her own. The freshman defeated Avgeri 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 on court three.
Sabe's lengthy two-setter against Lancranjan was the last match off as the Boilermaker ultimately fell 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) on court two.
Purdue will return to the Schwartz Tennis Center on Sunday for a 10 a.m. ET match against Tulsa. Before then, the Golden Hurricanes will take on the Blue Demons on Saturday at 9 a.m.