Evansville Box Score / Xavier Box Score
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Boilermakers faced their second doubleheader of the season Sunday, taking on Evansville in the morning and Xavier that afternoon - both matches played indoors at the Schwartz Tennis Center.
The women started out with a fast 6-1 win in doubles by Rafaella Baquerizo and Nicole Robinson, but then had to wait to see if they'd take the doubles point.
Marta Ruedas and Alex Sabe were down 1-4, but tirelessly fought back to even the match at four all. With Sabe on serve, the tandem only gave up one point in the game to advance the score to 5-4. After winning the first two points of the next, Purdue gave up the third, but then got lucky when a ball that was going out clipped an Evansville racket. Now at 40-15, Ruesdas sent a volley long to make it 40-30; however, she came back and jammed another volley straight down the middle of the court, freezing both Purple Aces in place and clinching the doubles point for Purdue.
Caitlin Calkins and Grace Schaffer also found themselves down early, but battled to five apiece. At that point, doubles had been clinched, but both coaches decided to play out the match.
The duo won the next game on serve and then broke Evansville to win 7-5 and sweep the Purple Aces in doubles.
In singles, Ruedas and Sabe harnessed the momentum they built at the end of doubles to give Purdue and early 3-0 lead. Ruedas finished first 6-3, 6-1 against Pascual-Larrinaga, and Sabe soon followed with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Pentsova. Baquerizo then clinched the match in the No. 5 slot; she defeated Soldatou 6-3, 6-0.
Djokovic, Robinson and Schaffer all went on to win their singles matches, giving Purdue a 7-0 victory and second sweep of the season.
The Boilermakers returned to the courts at 3 p.m., taking on the Xavier Musketeers. Purdue earned its fourth-straight doubles point with wins by the same two duos that clinched the point for the team against Evansville. Calkins and Djokovic were unable to complete the doubles sweep, though, losing 2-6.
The women then faced a much stronger singles lineup than they did earlier in the day; however, the Boilermakers still held control of the match. Purdue struck first with Baquerizo's dominating 6-0, 6-0 win over Abelson. Ruedas then fell 2-6, 4-6 to Reichenbach, but Natalia Davila earned one back for the team, defeating Iordanova 7-6(2), 6-0.
With the team match at 3-1, Sabe found herself back in the spotlight. After splitting sets with Xavier's Ghidotti, Sabe led the third at 5-3, 30 all. The pair then traded points, each sending a ball long. At 40 all and no-ad scoring in effect, Sabe put the match away, working Ghidotti till the Musketeer hit another deep. Purdue finished the day at 5-2.
The Boilermakers are back at home Friday, Jan. 27, facing Washington State at 1 p.m.