WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Fresh on the heels of upsetting Tulsa on the road, the Purdue women's tennis team will look to play the spoiler at No. 23 Northwestern on Sunday. The 33rd-ranked Boilermakers take a 2-1 record into their B1G opener. NU (1-2) hosts Penn State (1-4) Saturday to open the door on its B1G campaign. Action from the Combe Indoor Tennis Center in Evanston, Ill., is set to get underway at 12 p.m. ET.
The Old Gold & Black is coming off of a 4-3 road upset of then-No. 25 Tulsa on Feb. 7. After coming up short in the battle for the doubles point going 1-2, Purdue broke through in singles play taking four out of the six matches to steal the win. The top and bottom portions of the lineup fueled the come-from-behind victory with wins from then-No. 118 Daniela Vidal, Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum, Lynda Xepoleas and Krisztina Kapitany.
Following the upset, the Boilermakers jumped five spots in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) team rankings released Tuesday, from No. 38 to 33. With new ITA singles and doubles rankings for the first time since Jan. 6, Vidal made a significant jump in the singles ranks. The senior owns a 5-1 mark, with a pair of wins coming over higher-ranked foes, climbed to No. 105. That mark stands as the highest ranking the reigning B1G Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week has achieved in her four years at Purdue.
After being unranked in the preseason (9/8) and first regular season edition (1/6) of rankings, Vidal and Bernard-Feigenbaum made their debut on the doubles poll, checking in at No. 24. The pair is 6-2 in spring competition, including a 2-1 mark as the No. 1 tandem. Their ranking is the highest regular season ranking for a Purdue doubles team since Brooke Beier and Mallory Voelker were listed 20th on Jan. 9, 2007.
All three of Northwestern's opponents in 2015 have been ranked among the top 32. In their last outing on Feb. 1, the Wildcats dropped a 5-2 match while playing at then-No. 4 Duke. They began the season by hosting the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, where NU split matches. Northwestern first suffered a 4-3 decision to then-No. 32 Arizona State, but bounced back to dominate then-No. 21 Rice, 6-1.
Freshman Alex Chatt has won her first three matches at the No. 5 singles spot, winning all six sets she has played. Rookie counterpart Erin Larner (15-5) began the season in the No. 4 spot and has since worked her way up to No. 2 through the first three matches.
Sophomore Brooke Rischbieth appears twice on the doubles rankings. Paired with Alicia Barnett, the duo is listed 50th, and when playing alongside Chatt, the tandem is ranked 58th.