Purdue Women's Tennis Punches Fourth-Straight NCAA Ticket 

 
For the fourth-consecutive season and eighth time in program history, the Purdue women's tennis team has punched a ticket to the NCAA Championships. The No. 38 Boilermakers (14-8) received one of 32 at-large bids into the 64-team field. They will take on No. 23 Duke (16-9), also an at-large selection, in the first round at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia.

"I am very excited for the team, especially for our two seniors," head women's tennis coach Laura Glitz said. "It shows how much Daniela [Vidal] and Lynda [Xepoleas] have meant to the program. Since they arrived at Purdue four years ago, we have made the NCAA Tournament each year, plus we won a B1G Tournament title. I can't thank them enough for all they have done for the program."

First- and second-round competition takes place May 8-9 or 9-10 and features four teams playing in a single-elimination format. Exact match date and time will be posted on PurdueSports.com as soon as they are made available.

The winner of each site advances to Baylor's Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas, where the 16 teams will compete for the national championship May 15-19.

SEC Tournament runner-up Georgia (20-6) will host the first and second rounds. The sixth-seeded Bulldogs will face off against automatic qualifier and Big South Conference champion, Charleston Southern (18-2).

"I believe the team is ready to take advantage of this opportunity especially since we've struggled the last part of the season," Glitz said. "Now we have one week to prepare and go after a tough Duke team. Duke always has a strong program so we need to be ready to fight, have a winning attitude and bring lots of energy. I know the team wants to bring these things for our two seniors."

The Old Gold & Black has qualified for the NCAA Championships eight times, advancing in 1996, 1998, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2013 and 2014. The 2015 ticket makes Vidal and Xepoleas the first Purdue women's tennis senior class to earn a trip to the NCAA Championships in each of their four seasons.

"Each year we've qualified has meant a lot, but this is my last year and I want to finish the season as strong as we can as a team," Vidal said. "I feel like I'm not ready to be done.

"Being able to be together for all four years [with Lynda], it has helped us," Vidal said. "It's really nice to be able to share the experience with someone. Lynda is more than my teammate, she was my doubles partner the first three years, and she's my roommate and friend. It's great to get to share this experience with her."

Tournament matches will be regulation dual matches with three eight-game, pro-set doubles played for one team point, followed by six singles matches, each valued at one team point, played in best-of-three sets. Regular scoring will be used and a 12-point tiebreaker will be played at seven-games-all in doubles and at six-games-all in singles.

Thirty-two conferences received automatic qualification into the 2015 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships. A complete list of automatic qualifiers can be found here. At-large selection criteria included win-loss record, strength of schedule, head-to-head competition, results versus common opponents, strength of schedule and wins versus teams already selected at time of consideration.