April 12, 2012

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 34 Purdue women's tennis team hits the road this weekend for a pair of Big Ten Conference matches. The Boilermakers will play at Wisconsin on Friday and at No. 31 Minnesota on Sunday.

Purdue (12-4, 4-3 Big Ten) is coming off a split weekend that featured a heartbreaking loss against Nebraska and a dominant win over Iowa. On Friday, Purdue faced the then-No. 17 Cornhuskers. The match went back and forth was extremely even until Nebraska was able to pull out some late victories to win, 5-2. Lynda Xepoleas was on the winning end for Purdue in singles. Sunday, Purdue came out and took control from the start. The team swept the doubles point and then took the first four singles matches before Iowa could get on the board. The final score would be 6-1.

Wisconsin (10-9, 1-6) has struggled as of late. The Badgers have lost four in a row, all in the Big Ten. Last weekend, they lost two close matches at Ohio State and Penn State both by a 4-3 margin. The prior weekend, Wisconsin lost 7-0 to Illinois and 6-1 to Northwestern. Alaina Trgovich is the top player for the Badgers. She started the season in the No. 4 singles spot and has worked her way up to No. 1 where she has played the last seven matches.

Minnesota (13-5, 3-4) started the season hot, but has been slowed a bit in conference. The Golden Gophers split last weekend with a 5-2 win at Penn State before losing to Ohio State, 4-3. Minnesota had dropped three in a row before those contests. The Golden Gophers are 6-3 at home and will have one more chance to improve on that mark before hosting the Boilermakers. Minnesota will play Indiana on Friday. Natalia Pintusava has been the top player as she boasts a 7-2 mark at No. 1 and 4-3 at No. 2 singles. She has won her last two matches and seven of her last 10.

Purdue and Wisconsin will meet for the 40th time on the courts. Wisconsin holds the edge, 28-11, but the Boilermakers have won seven in a row in the series. Purdue and Minnesota will also meet for the 40th time. The Gophers lead the series, 26-13, but Purdue has won two in a row and six of the last nine.

The Boilermakers and Badgers are scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday in Madison, Wis. Live results will be available at PurdueSports.com. Purdue and Minnesota will start at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday. Full recaps will be available following each match at PurdueSports.com.