WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 21 Purdue women's tennis team opened Big Ten play with a win over instate rival Indiana on Saturday. The Boilermakers knocked off the Hoosiers 5-2 on the Basham Courts at the Schwartz Tennis Center.
Purdue (7-1, 1-0 Big Ten) started the match with a spirited come-from-behind doubles win. The Boilermakers dominated the match at No. 2 as Lynda Xepoleas and Daniela Vidal were first to finish. The sophomores defeated Carolyn Chupa and Katie Klyczek, 8-3. The Hoosiers leveled the doubles score with a dominant win of their own at No. 3. Alecia Kauss and Shannon Murdy defeated Imogen Golder and Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum, 8-4.
The point came down to No. 1 where IU led for the majority of the match. Mara Schmidt and Krisztina Kapitany were faced with the No. 44 pair in the country, Leslie Hureau and Sophie Garre. The Boilermaker pair kept battling back until it tied the match at seven. There, Schmidt and Kapitany broke serve to lead 8-7. However, the Hoosier pair fought back and tied the score at eight and forced a tiebreak. Schmidt and Kapitany were too much, though, as the Boilermakers won the tiebreak, 7-4, to clinch the point for Purdue.
The Boilermakers carried the momentum into singles. Gisella Pere dominated at No. 6 in a match that lasted just over an hour. Pere defeated Murdy, 6-1, 6-0, to give Purdue the 2-0 lead. Indiana (10-4, 0-1) got on the board with a win at No. 1. Hureau topped Xepoleas, 6-4, 6-2. The Boilermakers bounced back with a win at No. 3. Vidal hung on to defeat Chupa, 7-5 in the first set. The Purdue sophomore then took the second set, 6-4, to put the Boilermakers within one point of victory.
The next two matches, as well as Vidal's, ended almost simultaneously. Schmidt clinched the win for Purdue with her victory over Klyczek at No. 2. The junior won, 6-4, 6-4. Seconds later, Bernard-Feigenbaum wrapped up her three-set match at No. 4. The freshman dropped the first set, 6-4, to Kauss. After that, it was all Feigenbaum as she cruised to 6-1 wins in the next two sets. Garre of IU wrapped up the match with a 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 win over Golder.
The Boilermakers have now won three straight against Indiana.
Purdue takes a break from Big Ten action as the team hits the road for a spring break trip. The team is scheduled to travel to Miami to take on Winthrop and Florida International next weekend.
