| Freshman Lauren McCarthy and senior Sasha Abraham topped N.C. State's Kate Green and Julia Roach (8-5) Friday in Raleigh. The Nittany Lions will be back in action Saturday against Florida International, also in Raleigh. |
RALEIGH, N.C.; February 2, 2007 ?C The 46th-ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack came out on fire Friday and handed the Penn State women??s tennis team a 6-1 loss in Raleigh, N.C.
The highlight on the day for the Nittany Lions came in doubles, where Sasha Abraham (Hyderabad, India) and Lauren McCarthy (Danbury, Conn.) topped Kate Green and Julia Roach (8-5). However, N.C. State would rebound and clinch the doubles point with a pair of wins. The Wolfpack earned the first win as Alejandra Guerra and Daria Petrovic topped Katelyn BeVard (McLean, Va.) and Jenny Shular (Peachtree City, Ga.), 8-4 and then saw Berkeley Brock and Nelis Barringer post an 8-4 win over Dorothy Dohanics (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Lauren Holzberg (Easton, Conn.).
In singles action, Shular picked up the lone point of the day for the Nittany Lions when she topped Kate Green in a hard-fought 7-6 (6), 6-3 victory. When Abraham fell to #43 Petrovic (6-1, 6-3), the Wolfpack took a 2-1 lead on the day. BeVard jumped out to the early lead against Brock with a 6-4 victory in the opening set, but Brock responded with a 7-5 win in the second frame and closed out the win with a 6-4 win in the third set. Andrea Niculescu (Montreal, Quebec) came up short in a three-set battle with Guerra (2-6, 6-3, 6-1), while McCarthy fell to Roach (7-6 (6), 6-0) and Dohanics dropped a hard-fought match against Barringer (6-3, 0-6, 6-4).
Head coach Buffy Baker was optimistic about her team??s performance, despite the final margin. ??It was much closer than the score shows,?? said Baker. ??We had plenty of chances to get our shots, and we just did not finish. We had some players step up in positions in the face of adversity. If we continue to do that down the line, we are going to do some great things.??
The Nittany Lions will play again tomorrow in Raleigh against Florida International at 11 a.m.
No. 46 NC State 6, Penn State 1
Singles
1. No. 43 Daria Petrovic (NCSU) def. Sasha Abraham (PSU) ?C 6-1, 6-3
2. Berkley Brock (NCSU) def. Katelyn BeVard (PSU) ?C 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
3. Alejandra Guerra (NCSU) def. Andrea Niculescu (PSU) ?C 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
4. Jenny Shular (PSU) def. Kate Green (NCSU) ?C 7-6 (6), 6-3
5. Julia Roach (NCSU) def. Lauren McCarthy (PSU) ?C 7-6 (6), 6-0
6. Neils Barringer (NCSU) def. Dorothy Dohanics (PSU) - 6-3, 0-6, 6-4
Doubles
1. Guerra/Petrovic (NCSU) def. BeVard/Shular (PSU) ?C 8-4
2. Abraham/McCarthy (PSU) def. Green/Roach (NCSU) - 8-5
3. Brock/Barringer (NCSU) def. Dohanics/Holzberg (PSU) ?C 8-4