WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women's tennis team recorded a pair of doubles podium finishes on Saturday at the Purdue Invite, while four Boilermakers won their semifinals matches the singles flights.
Alex Sabe gave the Boilermakers the most electric moment of the day in the Boilermakers flight. The Rye, N.Y., native ousted Amy Kaplan from Ball State in three sets, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(6), after rallying from a 5-1 deficit in the final tiebreaker.
Zeynep Naz Ozturk and Zala Dovnik both made the championship round of the Hammer Down singles flight. Ozturk needed three sets to defeat Denise Lai from UConn, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, and Dovnik topped Dina Chaika of Louisville, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Due to two players from the same school finals, tournament officials elected to have the two Boilermakers flip opponents for their Sunday match.
Nikol Dobrilova punched her ticket to the Black singles draw championship in straight sets against Maria Potsi from Northern Illinois, 6-1, 6-3.
Seira Shimizu rolled in the Gold consolation semifinals to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 against Ayumi Sasaki from Bowling Green.
Nathalia Wolf Gasparin and Dobrilova took third-place honors in the Gold doubles flight. After falling in the semifinals, the pair bounced back with a convincing 8-2 win over Alexia Coutino and Ioana Guna from Cincinnati.
Sabe and Dovnik joined the newcomer duo with a third-place finish in doubles. The upperclassmen tandem rallied from a semifinal defeat in a tiebreak to top Diana Wong and Jelena Vujanic 8-6.
Shimizu and Ozturk rebounded in the consolation draw to defeat Ball State's Livia Lukacs and Emma Peeler.
Additional Purdue matches on Saturday:
PURDUE INVITE
Maia Hamueller/Rhea Verma (Louisville) def. Wolf Gasparin/Dobrilova – 8-4
Aspasia Avgeri/Alina Kuzmenkova (DePaul) def. Sabe/Dovnik – 8-7(2)
Jessica Braun/Rebecca Herrington (Ball State) def. Shimizu/Ozturk – 8-7(2)
Nikolina Jovic (Louisville) def. Wolf Gasparin – 7-6, 4-6, 6-2
MILWAUKEE TENNIS CLASSIC
Selma Cadar def. No. 1 Csilla Fodor – 7-6(5), 6-4
Karolina Snita def. Ena Babic - 7-5, 6-1
Scheduled Purdue matches on Sunday:
PURDUE INVITE
Ozturk vs. Dina Chaika (Louisville) – Hammer Down Singles
Dovnik vs. Denise Lai (UConn) – Hammer Down Singles
Sabe vs. Hamueller (Louisville) – Boilermakers Singles Championship
Dobrilova vs. Jelena Vujanic (Louisville) – Black Singles Championship
Shimizu vs. Andrea Craciun (Wright State) – Gold Singles Consolation Championship