University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Purdue
Gophers Suffer 4-3 Setback Against No. 34 Purdue
4/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
April 15, 2012
After being forced to play indoors due to inclement weather, the No. 31 Minnesota fell to 34th-ranked Purdue 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at the Baseline Tennis Center. The result dropped the Gophers to 14-6 on the season and 4-5 in Big Ten play.
All-time, Minnesota now holds a 26-15 record against the Boilermakers.
Purdue began the match by taking the double point. The 45th-ranked combination of Magdalena Wiecha and Natallia Pintusava suffered a rare loss at the top spot. The duo is now 11-3 on the season and has lost twice at home.
The competition was clinched at No. 3 when Imogen Golder and Gisella Pere of Purdue downed Tereza Brichacova and Aria Lambert 8-5. Alexa Palen and Doron Muravnik helped Minnesota avoid the sweep by winning 8-6 at No. 2.
The Gophers shuffled their lineup for singles play, inserted sophomore Yuliana Umanets in a No. 6 and taking out 124th-ranked Palen, who was originally slate to play at No. 2.
The Boilermakers pushed Minnesota to the brink of defeat with straight-set wins at the fifth and sixth positions, but the final four matches to finish went to three sets.
The team victory was clinched for Purdue when Lynda Xepoleas edged Muravnik 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 at No. 2.
Pintusava ended the Boilermakers' chance at a sweep at the top spot by winning the first and third sets of her match, which was decided by a super tiebreaker. The sophomore jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the match tiebreaker and staved off a Jennifer Rabot rally to win 10-7.
Freshmen Brichacova and Julia Courter closed out the match on a high note by winning in three sets. Both Gopher players won the first set and lost 6-3 in the second set. Courter capped her match with a 6-4 third-set win and Brichacova completed the overall match by taking a third-set tiebreaker against Mara Schmidt, 7-1.
The match was the Gophers' fourth one-point match of the season. The team is 2-2 with an 0-2 mark in conference play in 4-3 matches.
Minnesota will conclude its regular season next weekend by traveling to No. 17 Nebraska on Friday and wrapping up its regular-season schedule on Senior Day on Sunday against Iowa. Wiecha is the team's lone senior.
Big Ten Tournament play will begin on April 26 in Columbus, Ohio.
Apr. 15, 2012
Baseline Tennis Center • Minneapolis, Minn.
No. 34 Purdue 4, No. 31 Minnesota 3
Singles Competition:
1. Natallia Pintusava (MINN) vs. Jennifer Rabot (PUR) 6-4, 6-7 (4), 1-0 (7)
2. Lynda Xepoleas (PUR) def. Doron Muravnik (MINN) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
3. Tereza Brichacova (MINN) vs. Mara Schmidt (PUR) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (1)
4. Julia Courter (MINN) vs. Daniela Vidal (PUR) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
5. Imogen Golder (PUR) def. Aria Lambert (MINN) 6-3, 6-3
6. Gisella Pere (PUR) def. Yuliana Umanets (MINN) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles Competition:
1. Jennifer Rabot/Mara Schmidt (PUR) def. No. 45 Natallia Pintusava/Magdalena Wiecha (MINN) 8-5
2. Alexa Palen/Doron Muravnik (MINN) def. Daniela Vidal/Lynda Xepoleas (PUR) 8-6
3. Imogen Golder/Gisella Pere (PUR) def. Tereza Brichacova/Aria Lambert (MINN) 8-5
Match Notes:
No. 31 Minnesota 14-6 (4-5 Big Ten)
No. 34 Purdue 14-4 (6-3 Big Ten)
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (6,5,2,1,4,3)
Players Mentioned
