| Senior Sasha Abraham and the Nittany Lions will travel to Minneapolis for the Women's Tennis Big Ten Tournament from Thursday, April 26-Sunday, April 29. #8 Penn State will face #9 Michigan State Thursday at 9 a.m. CT to kick off the action for the weekend. |
- Big Ten Championship Notes & Stats
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., April 25, 2007 ?C The Penn State women's tennis team, seeded eighth, will travel to Minneapolis, Minn., for the Big Ten Women's Tennis Championship this weekend. The Nittany Lions will face No. 9 seed Michigan State at 10 a.m. on Thursday morning. The winner of the match will move on to face top-ranked Northwestern Friday at 10 a.m.
Tournament Notes
- Penn State is coming into the Big Ten Tournament after a thrilling season of both ups and downs in and out of the Big Ten. Beginning the fall season at several tournaments throughout the tri-state area, the Nittany Lions started the spring slate with a trip to Florida in January, before making strong runs in Big Ten competitions both at home and on the road.
- The last time the Nittany Lions and Spartans faced each other, the Blue and White came out on top, defeating MSU by a 5-2 in Happy Valley on April 14. Penn State swept doubles and had a strong finish in singles as senior Andreea Niculescu topped Christine Bader (7-5, 6-4) and freshman Lauren McCarthy defeated Marianne Eelens in an exciting 7-5, 5-7, 10-5 match. Penn State holds a slight 10-9 lead in the all-time series.
- Penn State faced Northwestern in their Big Ten home opener February 24, with the then-ranked No. 6 Wildcats clawing the Nittany Lions, 7-0. Junior Jenny Shular took Lauren Lui to three sets, topping her in the first set, 6-4, but dropping the final two sets (6-1, 9-7). Northwestern is a perfect 18-0 all-time against the Nittany Lions.
- Most recently, the Blue and White took to the road as they faced then-ranked No. 27 Indiana in Bloomington on Saturday, April 21, falling 6-1 to the Hoosiers. Shular was a double winner on the day, topping Sigrid FIscher (6-4, 6-2) and teaming up with senior Sasha Abraham to defeat Laura McGaffigan and Alba Berdala (8-2). PSU closed out the Big Ten schedule with a 6-1 loss at No. 43 Ohio State Sunday, April 22. Niculescu scored the lone point for the Nittany Lions, beating Julie Blackmore, 6-2, 6-4 in No. 1 singles.
A NEW NUMBER ONE FAN: Head coach Buffy Baker and husband Eric became the proud parents of their first son, William Baker Cummings, on the evening of April 18. William, weighing 7 pounds, 10 ounces and 21 inches long, joins two sisters at home. CONGRATULATIONS BUFFY & ERIC!
PERFECT FIT: Entering the Illinois match, head coach Buffy Baker felt it was time to shuffle the doubles deck. The change has worked out famously for the Nittany Lions as Jenny Shular and Sasha Abraham have won their last five doubles matches together, all in conference play, entering the Big Ten Tournament.
DOHANICS ON THE PROWL: Sophomore Dorothy Dohanics has been hot entering the Big Ten Tournament. The sophomore has won nine of her last 12 matches, primarily in the fifth singles slot. Dohanics, who is 16-8 on the season, is no stranger to long matches as she has played in 10 three-set matches this season with a 6-4 record to show for it.
BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior Sasha Abraham earned the Women??s Tennis Big Ten Player of the Week Award for her performance against Illinois and Purdue during the weekend of April 7-8. Abraham is just the second player in Penn State women??s tennis history to earn Big Ten weekly/monthly honors. Abraham won in both singles and doubles against all Fighting Illini and Boilermaker opponents.
INJURY REPORT: Senior Katelyn BeVard tore her ACL during Penn State??s 6-1 win over North Carolina State on February 2. BeVard was sidelined for the rest of the season, but still inspired and strengthened the rest of her team. ??Katelyn has approached her recovery in the same manner as she approached becoming a better tennis player,?? said head coach Buffy Baker. ??Her absence from the court has been quite apparent. However, her leadership and passion to get better, both on and off the court, has not waned. She has been a true supporter and champion of the game.??
FIRST TOURNEY, FIRST TITLE: Freshman Lauren McCarthy earned her first collegiate title in her first tournament with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Yale??s Lilian Nyuyan at the University of Maryland Invitational. McCarthy also picked up wins over West Virginia??s Ashley Constantine (6-0, 6-1) and WVU??s Colleen Speaker (6-4, 6-0) en route to the crown.
DOUBLES CROWN: Freshman Lauren McCarthy and junior Jenny Shular teamed up to win the doubles title at the Penn State Invitational with wins over Cornell??s Nisha Suda and Tamara John (8-0) and Kathryn Duboc and Shana Miller (8-5).
INVITATIONAL TITLE FOR MORZAN: Sophomore Leyla Morzan topped two opponents on the final day of the Penn State Invitational to take home the Flight C championship. The sophomore defeated Cornell??s Shana Miller in straight sets (6-4, 6-1), before topping the Big Red??s Kathryn Duboc by a 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 margin.
HEAD COACH BUFFY BAKER: Buffy Baker is in her eighth season as head coach having already guided Penn State to its best ever Big Ten regular season showing and its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Baker is 69-10 as the Nittany Lions?? mentor and 74-120 overall as a collegiate coach. Baker is only the second Nittany Lion head coach since Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1991. She is already having a great effect on Penn State tennis as the Nittany Lions have advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals for the first time ever, won the most conference duals ever in 2000-01, and had two All-Big Ten selections in the same season for the first time ever.
SOPHOMORE JINX?: Sophomore Lauren Holzberg, who accumulated a 20-7 overall record last season with a 7-3 mark in Big Ten play, may have been hit with the dreaded sophomore jinx. Holzberg is just 8-10 in dual matches and has only managed to post two wins against conference competition.
50 WINS FOR SASHA: Senior Sasha Abraham reached the 50-win mark for her career with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Syracuse??s Maria Vasilyeva on February 16. Abraham now has 55 wins in her collegiate career.