WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - After outlasting DePaul 5-2 on Friday, the Purdue women's tennis team (5-3) finished its weekend at home with a 4-3 loss to the Golden Hurricanes on Sunday. The Boilermakers' slip against Tulsa was only the team's second of the season inside the Schwartz Tennis Center. Purdue opened its home schedule by sweeping both its doubleheaders, yet falling to the talents of No. 23 Ole Miss.
The Golden Hurricanes took an early 1-0 lead on the Basham Courts, securing the doubles points with victories on courts one and three. Both of Purdue's losing tandems again started out slow, but looked to possibly come-from-behind as they did against the Blue Demons.
On court one, Silvia Ambrosio and Ena Babic took a 3-2 lead after falling behind 2-0 against Ksenia Laskutova and Martha Matoula. The teams then advanced the score to four all by holding serve, though in the last game, Purdue had an opportunity to break at deuce with no-ad scoring in effect. Instead, Tulsa used the momentum to win the match 6-4, breaking the Boilermakers before holding serve in the final game.
Similarly, on court three, Caitlin Calkins and Alex Sabe worked to even their score at three all against Tamara Kupkova and Rouxanne Janse van Rensburg. However, a late break by the Golden Hurricanes was too much for the sophomores to overcome a second time in 48-hours. On Friday, the duo battled back from a 5-2 against DePaul, but ultimately fell 6-4 Sunday.
In singles, the Boilermakers again started out slow, dropping five of the six opening sets to Tulsa. Babic was Purdue's only player to secure her first, besting Kupkova 6-1, 6-4 overall on court three. However, the Boilermakers forced decisive third sets at four of the remaining five positions as Zala Dovnik exited second in a 6-3, 6-3 loss to Golden Hurricane Alexandrina Chinikova on court six.
Both No. 79 Ambrosio and freshman Seira Shimizu capitalized on their late momentum, winning their contests on courts one and five, respectively. The first defeated Laskutova 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 and the second bested Vera Ploner 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.
At 3-2 Purdue, the home team only needed a point from either Sabe or fellow sophomore Rafaella Baquerizo to clinch the match. The first traded games with No. 111 Martina Okalova on court two, until the Golden Hurricane broke at love, winning 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.
Baquerizo also kept her third set with Matoula close, never up or down by more than a game. Furthermore, from two all to five all, only one game was not decided at deuce. Tulsa then stole a break when Baquerizo was assessed a point penalty again at deuce, moving the third set to 6-5. The Golden Hurricane held serve to win 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5.
Up next, the Boilermakers will return to the road, traveling to Fayetteville, Arkansas for a pair of duals. Purdue first faces Kansas on Saturday and the home team on Sunday at the George M. Billingsley Tennis Center - both matches at noon ET.