PURDUE WOMEN'S TENNIS ON THE ROAD

PURDUE PRESS RELEASE

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's tennis team climbed 11 spots in the latest ITA/Campbell's College Tennis Rankings this week to No. 48 in the country. The Boilermakers will take that ranking on the road for two matches this week as they travel to Kentucky on Saturday and Louisville on Sunday.

Purdue (1-1) is coming off of a solid performance at the ITA Kick Off weekend hosted by Clemson. There, Purdue opened the weekend with an upset victory over then-No. 46 Kansas State and followed it up with a close loss to then-No. 14 Clemson. The Boilermakers were in position to pull off the road upset, but just enough points went against them in a 4-2 loss. When the match ended, Gisella Pere was on court six with a one set lead and 1-0 lead in the second.

Kentucky (3-0) enters this weekend with the No. 71 overall ranking, up one spot from a week ago. The Wildcats have played all three matches at home including a pair of 7-0 wins two weeks ago against Belmont and Morehead State. Their other win came against Marshall, 5-2, on Jan. 20. The Boilermakers and Wildcats are scheduled to begin their match at noon ET.

Louisville (2-2) is coming off a 6-1 win last week over Austin Peay. The Cardinals have a pair of losses against Arkansas and Stephen F. Austin, but are undefeated at home. The other home win came against Morehead State, 7-0. Rebecca Shine is the top singles player for Louisville as she boasts the No. 103 individual ranking in the country. Despite that ranking, though, Shine was the only Cardinal to lose her match last week. Purdue and Louisville are scheduled to begin their match at 11 a.m. ET.

The Boilermakers are 4-17 all-time against Kentucky, but have won the last two meetings. In 2011, Purdue won 5-2 with wins from current Boilermakers Pere at No. 6, 6-1, 6-1, Imogen Golder at No. 5, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0, and Anna Dushkina, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 4.

Purdue has a 4-1 overall record against Louisville including two straight wins. Despite that record, though, the teams have not faced each other in a dual match since 1987.