Feb. 22, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; - In it's first Big Ten play of the season, the Penn State women's tennis team (2-7) fell to Purdue at home, 6-1. The Boilermakers got into a rhythm early, picking up the doubles point and winning the first five singles matches, putting the score at 6-0. In the final singles match, senior Leyla Morzan (Vancouver, British Columbia) notched the lone point of the day for the Nittany Lions.
On the No. 1 singles court, freshman Monika Mical (Stalowa Wola, Poland) and junior Sarah Lotto (Toronto, Ontario) fell to Stephanie Wooten and Michelle Sammons by an 8-3 margin. The Boilermakers secured the doubles point with another doubles victory in the No. 2 spot as Remi Martin and Jennifer Rabot handled junior Lauren McCarthy (Danbury, Conn.) and freshman Maria Prishlyak (Kiev, Ukraine), 8-2. Following in third singles, Morzan and senior Dorothy Dohanics (Pittsburgh, Pa.) picked up an 8-5 win over Tatiana Ganzha and Anna Dushkina.
With the Boilermakers ahead 1-0, the match moved into singles. On the No. 3 court, Ganzha defeated Prishlyak in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Dohanics followed with a 6-2, 6-2 fourth singles loss to Rabot, extending the Boilermaker lead to 3-0. The match was decided as play concluded into second singles, with McCarthy falling to Wooten, 6-3, 6-2.
In the No. 1 singles face-off, Mical was shut out by Sammons in her first set, 6-0, but rallied back to win the second set, 6-2. Sammons came away with the victory after winning the third set, 6-4. Lotto followed in sixth singles, falling behind Dushkina with a 6-2 loss in the first set. Dushkina finished Lotto off with a 6-4 win in the second set, putting the score at 6-0. In the final match of the day, Morzan worked her way to a comfortable 6-3 victory in her first set of No. 5 singles against Remi Martin. However, Martin answered with a 6-4 win in the second set. Morzan walked away with a victory after defeating Martin in an exciting 10-6 third set.
The Nittany Lions travel to Columbus on Saturday, Feb. 28 to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes at 5 p.m. The Lions return home the following weekend to face Wichita State on Saturday, March 7 at 1 p.m.
Purdue 6, Penn State 1
Doubles:
1. Wooten/Sammons (PU) def Mical/Lotto 8-3
2. Martin/Rabot (PU) def McCarthy/Prishlyak 8-2
3. Morzan/Dohanics def Ganzha/Dushkina(PU) 8-5
Order of Finish: #1, #2, #3
Singles:
1. Sammons (PU) def Mical 6-0,2-6,6-4
2. Wooten (PU) def McCarthy 6-3,6-2
3. Ganzha (PU) def Prishlyak 6-2,6-4
4. Rabot (PU) def Dohanics 6-2, 6-2
5. Morzan def Martin(PU) 6-3, 4-6, 10-6
6. Dushkina (PU) def Lotto 6-2, 6-4
Order of Finish: #3, #4, #2, #1, #6, #5