| Freshman Lauren McCarthy picked up two victories in a near-upset win over No. 53 Minnesota Sunday afternoon at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center. The Nittany Lions will travel to Illinois and Purdue before returning home for their final home match on April 14 versus Michigan State. |
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.; April 1, 2007 ?C The Penn State women??s tennis team (7-9 1-4 Big Ten) had their first upset win of the season in their grasp, but the No. 53 Minnesota Golden Gophers won the final three singles matches to post a 4-3 win over the Nittany Lions at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center Sunday.
The Golden Gophers took the early lead in the battle for the singles point as Ashley Schellhas and Lindsay Risebrough posted an 8-5 win over Sarah Lotto (Toronto, Canada) and junior Jenny Shular (Peachtree City, Ga.) in the second singles slot. However, Penn State rallied to tie the doubles competition at 1-1 with a third pairs win by Dorothy Dohanics (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and freshman Lauren McCarthy (Danbury, Conn.) over Karina Chiarelli and Danielle Mousseau, 9-7. Minnesota clinched the doubles point and took the early 1-0 match lead with a thrilling 9-7 first doubles win for Lindsay Risebrough and Ashley Schellhas over seniors Sasha Abraham (Hyderabad, India) and Andreea Niculescu (Montreal, Quebec).
Despite falling behind early, the Nittany Lions were unfazed as they picked up wins in the first three singles matches to take a commanding 3-1 match lead. Shular evened the match at 1-1 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Risebrough in the fourth singles position, while sophomore Lauren Holzberg (Easton, Conn.) gave the Blue and White with a 6-4, 6-2 third singles win over Mousseau. McCarthy notched the third PSU victory in singles play with an exciting three-set decision over Chiarelli (5-7, 6-3, 6-2).
Things seemed to be in hand for the Nittany Lions with Niculescu, Abraham and Dohanics, who has been hot of late, left to play their singles matches. Dohanics did her best to clinch the match for Penn State with a hard-fought match against Malmberg in the fifth singles slot. Malmberg took the first set by a 6-4 margin, but Dohanics rallied for a 6-2 win in the second set before dropping a heartbreaking third-set tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-3). Abraham came up short with a straight sets loss to Koprivica in second singles (6-2, 6-0), while Schellhas handed Niculescu a 6-2, 7-5 defeat to clinch the match for Minnesota.
??This was a winable match for us,?? head coach Buffy Baker said. ??We had our points, but played it too safe. Minnesota dictated in the right spots, and we didn't grab it today.??
The Nittany Lions will now travel to the Midwest for matches against Illinois and Purdue on Saturday and Sunday, respective. Both matches will begin at 11 a.m. (Central). The Blue and White return to Sarni Tennis Center for their final home match of the season against Michigan State on April 14 at 11 a.m.
No. 53 Minnesota 4, Penn State 3
Singles:
1. Ashley Schellhas (Minn.) def. Andreea Niculescu (PSU) (6-2, 7-5)
2. Tijana Koprivica (Minn.) def. Sasha Abraham (PSU) (6-2, 6-0)
3. Lauren Holzberg (PSU) def. Danielle Mousseau (Minn.) (6-4, 6-2)
4. Jenny Shular (PSU) def. Lindsay Risebrough (Minn.) (6-3, 6-4)
5. Ida Malmberg (Minn.) def. Dorothy Dohanics (PSU) (6-4, 2-6, 7-6, (3))
6. Lauren McCarthy (PSU) def. Karina Chiarelli (Minn.) (5-7, 6-3, 6-2)
Order of finish: 4, 3, 6, 5, 2, 1
Doubles:
1. Risebrough/Schellhas (Minn.) def. Abraham/Niculescu (PSU) (9-7)
2. Koprivica/Malmberg (Minn.) def. Sarah Lotto/Shular (PSU) (8-5)
3. Dohanics/McCarthy (PSU) def. Chiarelli/Mousseau (Minn.) (9-7)
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1