Friday, 04/13/2012

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin women’s tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision to the 34th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers Friday evening at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

The loss marks UW’s fifth-straight defeat and puts the Badgers at .500 on the season with an overall record of 10-10 and 1-7 in the Big Ten. Meanwhile, Purdue improves to 13-4 overall and 5-3 in the conference.

“We put ourselves in a position to do good things, and some of the girl’s took advantage of it, and some of the girls let it slip away,” UW head coach Brian Fleishman said. “I think going into [Sunday’s] Indiana match that’s just going to make us tougher.”

UW went down early after the Boilermakers recorded a sweep of the Badgers’ doubles teams.

The Wisconsin duo of freshman Nova Patel and junior Hannah Berner could not hold on to a late 7-6 lead at court two, losing to the Boilermaker pair of Daniela Vidal and Lynda Xepoleas, 8-7 (4).

At No. 1, senior Alaina Trgovich and sophomore Nicky Stracar were defeated, 8-4, by Mara Schmidt and Jennifer Rabot, while freshman Sarah Loebel and her partner senior Angela Chupa were ousted, 8-3, by Gisella Pere and Imogen Golder at No. 3.

Moving into singles play, the Badgers could not slow the Boilermakers down as Purdue took the first four singles matches.

Trgovich suffered a 6-0, 6-0 shutout loss to Rabot at the No. 1 spot.

At court five, Patel had her three-match win-streak snapped, losing to Golder in straight-sets, 6-3, 6-2.

Pere clinched the match for Purdue at No. 6, where she handed sophomore Caroline Bauer her first loss of the season with a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

In a close match at court two, Xepoleas defeated Berner in a third-set tiebreak. After trailing 3-0 in the first set, Berner came back to take the next six games and record a 6-3 first-set victory. Xepoleas went on to win the second set, 6-4, before winning the tiebreak, 7-4, to take the decisive third set, 7-6.

Stracar captured UW’s first singles win as she came out on top, 12-10, in a back and forth super tiebreak played in lieu of a third set at court three. The Badger sophomore defeated Schmidt, 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (10).

Loebel added another win for UW at No. 4, defeating Vidal in three sets. Loebel dominated the first set, 6-1, before dropping the second set, 6-3. The Hamburg, Germany, native regained control and topped Vidal in the third, 6-3.

“I think it went really well,” Loebel said about her performance. “I started to do well in the first set, and then she was a little better in the second set, but I played really well in the third set, too, so it was good.”

UW continues its Big Ten schedule, Sunday, April 15, as the 47th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers come to town. First serve is set for 11 a.m. at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

Final results:

No. 34 Purdue 5 – Wisconsin 2

Doubles:
1.) Mara Schmidt / Jennifer Rabot (PUR) def. Alaina Trgovich / Nicky Stracar (UW), 8-4
2.) Daniela Vidal / Lynda Xepoleas (PUR) def. Nova Patel / Hannah Berner (UW), 8-7 (4)
3.) Gisella Pere / Imogen Golder (PUR) def. Angela Chupa / Sarah Loebel (UW), 8-3

Order of finish:
3, 1, 2

Singles:
1.) Jennifer Rabot (PUR) def. Alaina Trgovich (UW), 6-0, 6-0
2.) Lynda Xepoleas (PUR) def. Hannah Berner (UW), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4)
3.) Nicky Stracar (UW) def. Mara Schmidt (PUR), 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (10)
4.) Sarah Loebel (UW) def. Daniela Vidal (PUR), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
5. ) Imogen Golder (PUR) def. Nova Patel (UW), 6-3, 6-2
6.) Gisella Pere (PUR) def. Caroline Bauer (UW), 6-4, 6-1

Order of finish:
1, 5, 6, 2, 3, 4