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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Through the first eight matches of spring play, the Boilermakers' lineup had been fairly consistent. Rafaella Baquerizo and Nicole Robinson started in the number one doubles position in all eight. Marta Ruedas and Alex Sabe competed together in seven of the eight. Andjela Djokovic competed in the number two singles position in seven of the eight, with Robinson and Sabe in the number one and three slots respectively. Baquerizo competed in singles in all eight. Today, the Purdue women's tennis team took on a new look during its 6-1 loss to Arkansas.
To begin the dual match, Ruedas teamed up with a new face in freshman Caitlin Calkins. The two competed against Shannon Hudson and Giulia Pairone in doubles on court two, losing 6-2 in the first match off.
Sabe also partnered with Natalia Davila for the first time this spring, competing against Natsuho Arakawa and Leolia Jeanjean on court three. At five all, the Boilermakers took a one-game lead on a Razorback volley that found the net. Down 40-30 in the next, Purdue watched another Arkansas volley sail long, forcing Arakawa and Jeanjean to stare at match point. On the Boilermakers' next serve, the Razorbacks returned a forehand which clipped the net and skirted out. Purdue won 7-5 to even the score in doubles.
Djokovic and Robinson's match on court one now dictated the point. The two hadn't competed together since the fall when they were ranked No. 29 in the country, but still looked in sync against Arkansas' Ana Oparenovic and Mia Jurasic. At 6-5, the Boilermakers were one game away from winning the team's sixth doubles point, but the Razorbacks were able to force a seventh-game tiebreak. Purdue fought back from a 3-1 deficit to even the score at three all, however, those were their last two points of the match. Arkansas went on to take the next four, winning the tiebreak 7-3 and the match 7-6.
In singles, Calkins made her first solo appearance as a Boilermaker, while Baquerizo was absent from the lineup. The top three spots also looked slightly differently with Sabe competing in the number one position, bumping Robinson to two and Djokovic to three.
As with Purdue's last two matches, the team needed to secure four singles points in order to avoid a fourth straight loss.
Calkins and Ruedas quickly dropped their matches, however, losing 6-1, 6-3 to Arakawa on court five and 6-1, 6-0 to Jeanjean on court four respectively.
Not long after, Davila fell to Pairone 6-3, 6-2 on court six, moving Purdue's record to 5-4.
Head coach Laura Glitz will have another opportunity to make adjusts Sunday; the Boilermakers face Maryland at noon in team's first Big Ten match of the season.