April 24, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. - The Nittany Lion women's tennis team (8-14, 2-8) was in a hard fought battle in the first round of the Big Ten Women's Tennis Championship, but came up short against #57 Iowa (13-9, 3-7), 4-1. Freshman Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.) picked up the lone win for Penn State with a straight sets win in six singles, while seniors Katelyn BeVard (McLean, Va.) and Jenny Shular (Peachtree City, Ga.) made their final appearances for the Blue & White.
"Our team fought extremely hard today," head coach Dawna Prevette said. "We were prepared and Iowa just beat us. Denisa took care of business. She was determined and it's great to see a freshman step up. Of course we would have liked to send our seniors off with one more win and the team rallied together, but it was just Iowa's day."
The Nittany Lions got off on the right foot in doubles play as BeVard and junior Dorothy Dohanics (Pittsburgh, Pa.) were seemingly locked in a tough third doubles match with Lynne Poggensee-Wei and Kelcie Klockenga with the score knotted at 3-3. However, BeVard and Dohanics reeled of five consecutive points to claim the match and give the Blue & White the early lead in the race for the doubles point with a convincing 8-3 victory.
After falling behind 3-0 to Milica Veselinovic and Kayla Berry, the second doubles pairing of Shular and sophomore Lauren McCarthy (Danbury, Conn.) battled back to move to a 4-3 deficit and eventually tie the match at 6-6. The match stayed on serve for the next three points before Veselinovic and Berry earned the match-winning tally to earn a 9-7 decision for Iowa to even the doubles point at 1-1.
The doubles point came down to the first pairs match that saw sophomore Sarah Lotto (Toronto, Ontario) and junior Lauren Holzberg (Easton, Conn.) take to the court as doubles partners for the first time this season. The duo quickly jumped out to a 3-1 lead over Jacqueline Lee and Alexis Dorr, but the Hawkeye duo fought to even the match at 5-5. After an exchange of points, Lee and Dorr took the lead at 7-6, but Lotto and Holzberg staved off elimination to make it a 7-7 match. Lee and Dorr once again put themselves in position to clinch the match and the doubles point when they took an 8-7 lead, however, Lotto and Holzberg evened the match at 8-8 and forced a tiebreaker. With the doubles point on the line, Lee and Dorr claimed the tiebreaker by a 7-5 margin to win the match 9-8 and give the Hawkeyes a 1-0 lead.
The Hawkeyes moved ahead by a 2-0 margin when BeVard struggled in her second singles match against 90th-ranked Veselinovic, falling 6-2, 6-0. Shortly after BeVard's match ended, Zobeideh put Penn State on the board with a straight-sets win over Berry in sixth singles play. Zobeideh got out to a 4-1 lead in the first set and held on for a 6-3 win in the first set and put Berry away with a perfect 6-0 win in the second set to claim the tally for the Nittany Lions.
McCarthy established a 4-2 lead in the first set of her fifth singles match against Klockenga, but it was the Hawkeye that got the last laugh as she won the next four tallies to take the opening frame by a 6-4 margin. In the second set, McCarthy kept pace with Klockenga as the pair found themselves knotted at 3-3, but Klockenga took three of the next four points to earn a 6-4 win in the second set and put the Hawkeyes ahead 3-1.
Shular fell behind 3-1 against Lee in first singles before rallying to tie the first set at 6-6. However, Lee took home the tiebreaker (7-4) for the 7-6 win in the opening frame. As the second set opened, Shular found herself in an 0-3 hole before bouncing back to take the next three points and even the set. The pair swapped the next four points before Lee claimed the set and the match win for Iowa with a 7-5 victory over Shular.
In third singles, Holzberg jumped out to a 4-0 lead against Dorr and cruised to a 6-1 win in the first set. The second set was a battle with Dorr picking up a 7-6 (8-6) win to even the match at one set apiece. Holzberg held a 2-1 lead in the final set when the match was stopped.
With the first set of her fourth singles tied at 3-3, Dohanics won the next three points to earn a 6-3 victory over Poggensee-Wei in the opener. Dohanics kept the momentum in the second set as she posted a 3-0 lead, but Poggensee-Wei rallied to tie it at 5-5 and eventually went on to win the set in a 7-6 (7-5) tiebreaker. The match was stopped once the Hawkeyes clinched the win.
#57 Iowa 4, Penn State 1
Doubles
1. Jacqueline Lee/Alexis Dorr (Iowa) def. Sarah Lotto/Lauren Holzberg (PSU), 9-8 (7-5)
2. Milica Veselinovic/Kayla Berry (Iowa) def. Jenny Shular/Lauren McCarthy (PSU), 9-7
3. Katelyn BeVard/Dorothy Dohanics (PSU) def. Lynne Poggensee-Wei/Kelcie Klockenga (Iowa), 8-3
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1. Jacqueline Lee (Iowa) def. Jenny Shular (PSU), 7-6 (7-4), 7-5
2. #90 Milica Veselinovic (Iowa) def. Katelyn BeVard (PSU), 6-2, 6-0
3. Lauren Holzberg (PSU) led Alexis Dorr (Iowa), 6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 2-1 - DNF
4. Dorothy Dohanics (PSU) tied Lynne Poggensee-Wei (Iowa), 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), DNF
5. Kelcie Klockenga (Iowa) def. Lauren McCarthy (PSU), 6-4, 6-4
6. Denisa Zobeideh (PSU) def. Kayla Berry (Iowa), 6-3, 6-0
Order of finish: 2, 6, 5, 1