WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's tennis team fought through the second day of the Schwartz Challenge and came out on top in 10 of its 12 matches Saturday while playing indoors on the Basham Courts of the Schwartz Tennis Center. One round of singles will be contested on Sunday to conclude the tournament starting at 9 a.m. ET with results available on @PurdueWT.
For the first time playing side-by-side this season, Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum and Andjela Djokovic defeated Ana Rajkovic and Christine Guerrazzi of Miami (Ohio), 8-2, and Illinois' Jade Hiltion and Jerricka Boone, 8-3.
The senior and sophomore duo of Lynda Xepoleas and Natalia Davila outplayed the Red Hawk team of Andreea Badileanu and Ramona Costea, 8-2, in their first match, and followed with an 8-6 defeat of Illinois' Grace Tapak and Madie Baillon. The wins over the past two days takes their overall fall record to 5-1.
The combination of Deborah Suarez and Krisztina Kapitany fell short to Hannah Shteyn and Alix Thurman of Miami (Ohio), 8-7 (6), in their first battle of the day, but bounced back in their second doubles match by defeating Cassie Pough and Jessie Lynn Paul of Louisville, 8-5. The junior pair closes out the fall campaign together at 5-1.
With the doubles portion of the Schwartz Challenge in the books, the Boilermakers combined to go 11-1 and conclude the fall season with an overall doubles record of 38-12.
Purdue's dominance on the court continued as play switched gears into singles play, winning five of six matches, with four of those coming in straight sets. Leading the way was Djokovic. The sophomore continued her outstanding singles play and kept her undefeated fall campaign intact with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Hilton of Illinois. With the win she pushed her record to 11-0.
Bernard-Feigenbaum pushed her record to 8-1 by downing Illinois' Tapak, 6-4, 7-5. Kapitany took the first set 6-2 over Boone from Illinois and then feel short in the second set by the same score. In the third set she powered through and came out on top 1-0 (7) improving her record to 7-4 overall.
West Palm Beach, Fla., native Nicole Robinson beat Rajkovic of Miami (Ohio) in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. With the win on Saturday it takes her overall performance 7-4 in the 2014 fall season. Sophomore counterpart Davila also contributed to the Boilermakers' domination by beating the Cardinals' Gerlach, 6-2, 6-2, while improving to 5-3.