Feb. 15, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; - The Penn State women's tennis team closed out its weekend at home with a loss to No. 39 Denver today. The Pioneers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back, on their way to a 5-2 victory.
"The team should be encouraged after this weekend, they fought hard," said head coach Dawna Prevette. "These matches will prepare us for Big Ten play."
The Pioneers opened up the match with a sweep of the doubles competition, putting them ahead 1-0. After Denver extended its lead to 3-0 with two straight singles wins, the Lions (2-5) answered with a win in the No. 4 match-up. The Pioneers sealed the deal by winning the next singles match, putting them up 4-1. The teams split the final two singles matches to put the final score at 5-2.
The Denver pairing of Ute Schnoy and Julia Bauregger put the Pioneers up early, defeating juniors Sarah Lotto (Toronto, Ontario) and Lauren McCarthy (Danbury, Conn.) in No. 2 singles, 8-2. Bhavani Tirumurti and Annette Aksdal clinched the doubles point for the Pioneers with an 8-5 win over senior Dorothy Dohanics (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and sophomore Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.) in third doubles. Following in a battle on the No. 1 doubles court, freshmen Monika Mical (Stalowa Wola, Poland) and Maria Prishlyak (Kiev, Ukraine) dropped a heartbreaker to Mallory Voelker and Kyla Iwinski, 8-7(3).
The Pioneers opened up singles play with Aksdal defeating Prishlyak in the No. 2 match-up in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2. On the No. 1 court, Mical lost a tight first set 7-6(3) to Voelker and was shut out 6-0 in the second, putting Denver ahead 3-0. McCarthy picked up the Lions' first point of the day with a solid 6-2, 7-5 win over Bauregger in fourth singles. Schnoy secured the Pioneer victory as Zobeideh fell in a hard-fought three-set No. 3 match. Schnoy jumped out to an early lead with a 6-2 win in the first set. Zobeideh responded with a 6-4 victory in the second, but dropped the final set 6-3.
On the No. 5 court, Dohanics followed with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Iwinski, putting the score at 4-2. The No. 6 match-up between senior Leyla Morzan (Vancouver, British Columbia) and Tirumurti came down to the wire as Morzan fell 6-2, 7-5 in the final match of the afternoon.
The Nittany Lions are at home again next weekend with matches against Oklahoma on Friday, Feb. 20 at 5 p.m. and Purdue on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 11 a.m. The matches will be held at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center and admission is free.
No. 39 Denver 5, Penn State 2
Singles Competition
1. Mallory Voelker (Denver) def. Monika Mical (PSU) 7-6(3), 6-0
2. Annette Aksdal (Denver) def. Maria Prishlyak (PSU) 6-1, 6-2
3. Ute Schnoy (Denver) def. Denisa Zobeideh (PSU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
4. Lauren McCarthy (PSU) de. Julia Bauregger (Denver) 6-2, 7-5
5. Dorothy Dohanics (PSU) def. Kyla Iwinski (Denver) 6-4, 6-2
6. Bhavani Tirumurti (Denver) def. Leyla Morzan (PSU) 6-2, 7-5
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 4, 3, 5, 6
Doubles Competition
1. Voelker/Iwinski (Denver) def. Mical/Prishlyak (PSU) 8-7(3)
2. Schnoy/Bauregger (Denver) def. Lotto/McCarthy (PSU) 8-2
3. Aksdal/Tirumurti (Denver) def. Dohanics/Zobeideh (PSU) 8-5
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1