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Minnesota Battles Purdue to the Very End in 4-3 Loss
3/12/2021 5:40:00 PM | Tennis
The back and forth match came down to a tiebreaker in the third set of the final singles match
West Lafayette, IN. - The Gophers battled Purdue down to the very last singles match in the road defeat.
Minnesota (2-6) has their two match winning streak snapped while Purdue (3-5) picks up their second straight win. Â
Doubles Play
The Boilermakers came out of the gates running and grabbed two straight victories to earn the doubles point. Rachel Hanford and Dalila Said's doubles match went unfinished with the Gopher pair in the lead 5-4.
Singles Play
The Gophers continued their good run of singles play with the same lineup used in the previous two victories. Zeyneb Sarioglan picked up her third straight victory in straight sets to even the score. Purdue's Csilla Fodor defeated Ekin Ercetin and Juliet Zhang won her match in the #6 position to keep the match tied 2-2.Â
The match then came down to the final three singles matches, which all went to third sets. Dalila Said won the first set, but was eventually defeated by Zala Dovnik. River Hart came up clutch and won her last two sets to keep the match alive for the Maroon & Gold. The 3-3 match came down to freshman Rachel Hanford's match which was entering a third set tiebreaker. Ena Babic bested Hanford 7-3 in the tiebreaker to win their match 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 and seal the victory for the Boilermakers.Â
Quotable
"Heartbreaking finish, but credit to River, Juliet and Zeyneb for getting the job done on their courts in singles today," said head coach Catrina Thompson. "We have another tough road match on Sunday and need to get ready for IU."
Notable
Freshman Zeyneb Sarioglan picked up her third straight singles win.Â
Seniors River Hart and Juliet Zhang each earned their third straight singles victory.Â
Minnesota is back in action Sunday Mar. 14 on the road against Indiana. The match is scheduled for an 11:00 a.m. start.Â
Results
Doubles
1. Dalila Said/Rachel Hanford (MINN) vs. Ena Babic/Csilla Fodor (PUR) – 5-4, unfinished
2. Nathalia Wolf Gasparin/Zala Dovnik (PUR) def. Ekin Ercetin/River Hart (MINN) – 6-4
3. Seira Shimizu/Zeynep Naz Ozturk (PUR) def. Zeyneb Sarioglan/Juilet Zhang (MINN) – 6-0
Order of finish: 3,2Â
Singles
1. Ena Babic (PUR) def. Rachel Hanford (MINN) – 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4)
2. Csilla Fodor (PUR) def. Ekin Ercetin (MINN) – 6-2, 6-3
3. Zala Dovnik (PUR) def. Dalila Said (MINN) – 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
4. River Hart (MINN) def. Seira Shimzu (PUR) – 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
5. Zeyneb Sarioglan (MINN) def. Nathalia Wolf Gasparin (PUR) – 6-1, 6-3
6. Juilet Zhang (MINN) def. Zeynep Naz Ozturk (PUR) – 6-0, 6-3
Order of finish: 5,2,6,3,4,1