April 24, 2015
BRACKET // TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
EVANSTON, Ill. - No. 2-seed Ohio State captured the doubles point and singles matches at Nos. 1, 4 and 6 to bounce seventh-seeded Purdue from the B1G Women's Tennis Tournament Friday at the Combe Tennis Center. The 38th-ranked Boilermakers (14-8) will now wait to see if they will receive an at-large bid to join the 64-team field of the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships. The bracket selection show will be streamed on NCAA.com April 28 at 5 p.m. ET.
The Buckeyes (19-5), ranked 18th nationally, advanced into a semifinal matchup against No. 3 Northwestern (14-6) Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. Other quarterfinal matches Friday saw top-seeded Michigan (22-3) blank No. 8 Minnesota (17-10) and fourth-seeded Penn State (13-10) defeat No. 5 Indiana (16-8), 4-2. Michigan and Penn State will meet in the first semifinal at 11 a.m.
In a battle of ranked doubles teams, it was Ohio State's No. 48 pair of Gabriella De Santis and Sandy Niehaus striking first with an 8-4 decision over No. 68 Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum and Daniela Vidal. The loss gave the advantage to the Buckeyes while bringing the veteran duo of Bernard-Feigenbaum and Vidal to 14-6.
Purdue's No. 3 duo of Krisztina Kapitany and Nicole Robinson held a 4-2 edge before Anna Sanford and Oliva Sneed rattled off the next three games to take a 5-4 lead. The Buckeye pair went on to win three more and dealt Kapitany and Robinson their first loss together, 8-6, and locked up the doubles point.
The bottom half of singles took to the courts first and Ohio State picked up its second point with a straight-set win at No. 6. Kapitany got the Old Gold & Black on the board while picking up her 17th win, making easy work of Grainne O'Neill, 6-1, 6-3.
The opening set at No. 4 went to Buckeye Miho Kowase in the breaker against Robinson, 7-6 (4). Facing a 5-1 deficit, the Purdue sophomore took the next two sets to make it 5-3, but she was unable to force a third set and fell in the next game. Kowase's victory pushed Ohio State ahead, 3-1.
Bernard-Feigenbaum, the Boilermakers' singles wins leader, delivered once again, rolling past Sanford in the No. 2 spot with matching sets of 6-2. The junior notched her 20th win of the spring season and brought Purdue within a point, 3-2.
Minutes after they wrapped up at No. 2, De Santis squashed any hope of Boilermaker comeback with a 6-4 second set to defeat Vidal at the top of the lineup and clinch the dual victory. De Santis won the first set, 6-1.
No. 2 OHIO STATE 4, No. 7 PURDUE 2
Doubles
1. No. 48 Gabriella De Santis/Sandy Niehaus (Ohio State) def. No. 68 Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum/Daniela Vidal (Purdue), 8-4
2. Miho Kowase/Ferny Angeles Paz (Ohio State) vs. Natalia Davila/Lynda Xepoleas (Purdue), 6-5 DNF
3. Anna Sanford/Oliva Sneed (Ohio State) def. Krisztina Kapitany/Nicole Robinson (Purdue), 8-6
Order of finish: 1, 3
Singles
1. Gabriella De Santis (Ohio State) def. Daniela Vidal (Purdue), 6-1, 6-4
2. Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum (Purdue) def. Anna Sanford (Ohio State), 6-2, 6-2
3. Lynda Xepoleas (Purdue) vs. Sandy Niehaus (Ohio State), 2-1 DNF
4. Miho Kowase (Ohio State) def. Nicole Robinson (Purdue), 7-6 (4), 6-3
5. Krisztina Kapitany (Purdue) def. Grainne O'Neill (Ohio State), 6-1, 6-3
6. Olivia Sneed (Ohio State) def. Andjela Djokovic (Purdue), 6-1, 6-3
Order of finish: 6, 5, 4, 2, 1