Northwestern University Athletics
Big Ten Tournament - Day One Recap
4/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Minnesota 4, Michigan State 1
Eighth-seeded Minnesota opened the 2015 Big Ten Women's Tennis Tournament by posting a 4-1 victory over ninth-seeded Michigan State Thursday. The match was played indoors at Combe Tennis Center due to cool temperatures.
With the victory, Minnesota advances to take on top-seeded Michigan in a quarterfinal round matchup at 10 a.m. Friday. The Wolverines defeated the Golden Gophers 7-0 during their regular-season matchup March 21 in Ann Arbor.
Minnesota jumped in front in the match by winning the doubles point as it got victories at Nos. 1 and 2. The Golden Gophers carried the momentum into singles play where it captured the first set in four of the six matches.
Julia Courter made it 2-0 in Minnesota's favor when she finished off a 6-4, 6-1 victory at No. 5. Paula Rincon-Otero brought the Golden Gophers within one victory of the match win moments later when she completed her 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 6.
Michigan State got on the board at the No. 1 spot as Erin Faulkner won 6-4, 6-1 to get the Spartans within 3-1. However, Minnesota advanced to the next round by getting a 6-3, 6-4 win from Jessica Mozia at No. 3.
Purdue 4, Wisconsin 2
Action shifted outdoors to Vandy Christie Tennis Center for the second match of the day where seventh-seeded Purdue battled past 10th-seeded Wisconsin, 4-2.
The Boilermakers will face Ohio State, the No. 2 seed, at 2 p.m. Friday in the quartefinal round. The Buckeyes held off Purdue, 4-3, in the regular season matchup between the teams on March 27 in Columbus.
The matchup between the Boilermakers and Badgers couldn't have been much tighter. After Purdue got 8-3 wins at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles to take the doubles point, four of the six singles matches went to three sets.
Both squads won three of the six opening sets. The Boilermakers made it 2-0 when Krisztina Kapitany completed her 6-4, 6-3 win at the No. 5 spot. However, Wisconsin got its first point of the match when Kelsey Grambeau earned a 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 6.
Every other match went to a decisive third set as the contest was up for grabs. Lauren Burich tied the match, 2-2, when she battled back after losing her first set at No. 4 to take a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 triumph. Purdue took the lead back when Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum rolled in her third set to win 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 at No. 2.
Lynda Xepoleas had the honor of clinching the match for the Boilermakers at the No. 3 position, pulling away late in her third set to rally and earn a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win.
