Feb. 7, 2009
HUNTINGTON, W.Va.: - The Penn State women's tennis team fell to 2-2 today with a 4-3 loss against South Alabama at the Huntington Tennis Club at Marshall University. The Lions will face their next ranked opponent, No. 45 Marshall, Sunday at 11 a.m.
The Nittany Lions fell behind early as the Jaguars (3-2) swept the doubles competition to take a 1-0 lead. South Alabama extended their lead to 2-0 after the first singles match up, but Penn State bounced back with two singles victories, tying the score at 2-2. The Jaguars were too much to handle in the end as they continued on to win the next two singles matches, earning four points and securing their victory.
In No. 1 doubles, freshman Monika Mical (Stalowa Wola, Poland) and junior Sarah Lotto (Toronto, Ontario) fell to Michaela Babicova and Sylvanie Spangenberg, 8-2. Alina Volman and Parija Maloo defeated senior Dorothy Dohanics (Pittsburg, Pa.) and sophomore Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.) 8-5 in No. 3 doubles to clinch the doubles point for the Jaguars. Junior Lauren McCarthy (Danbury, Conn.) and freshman Maria Prishlyak (Kiev, Ukraine) battled back and forth with Erica Krisan and Katie Welch before falling 8-6 in No. 2 doubles.
With South Alabama leading 1-0, singles competition began. The Jaguars moved ahead to 2-0 with Babicova defeating Zobeideh 6-1, 6-2 in No. 3 singles. Mical and Prishlyak then earned two straight points for the Lions to tie the score. Mical jumped out ahead of Maloo in No. 1 singles 6-3, 3-0 before her opponent retired. Prishlyak followed with a win over Spangenberg in No. 2 singles, 6-4, 6-1.
In the No. 5 match up, Dohanics stormed ahead of Welch 6-0 to win the first set, but couldn't keep the momentum and lost the next two sets, 6-4, 6-2. With South Alabama ahead 3-2, McCarthy battled back and forth with Krisan before falling in the No. 4 spot, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
With the match already decided, senior Leyla Morzan (Vancouver, British Columbia) closed out the afternoon earning a hard-fought victory over Volman. Morzan took the lead early after winning the first set 7-5, but Volman tied things back up with a 6-3 victory in the second set. In an exciting tiebreaker, Morzan came out on top, 12-10.
Following tomorrow's match against Marshall at 11 a.m., the Nittany Lions return home to host two home matches next weekend. The Lions will face No. 35 Virginia Commonwealth Friday, Feb. 13 at 5 p.m. and No. 40 Denver Sunday Feb. 15 at 10:30 a.m. at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center. Admission to the matches is free.
No. 56 South Alabama 4, Penn State 3
Doubles:
1. Spangenberg/Babicova (USA) def. Mical/Lotto (PSU) 8-2
2. Volman/Maloo (USA) def. McCarthy/Prishlyak (PSU) 8-6
3. Krisan/Welch (USA) def. Dohanics/Zobeideh (PSU) 8-5
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles:
1. Monika Mical (PSU) def. Parija Maloo (USA) 6-3, 3-0, retired
2. Maria Prishlyak (PSU) def. Sylvanie Spangenberg (USA) 6-4, 6-1
3. Michaela Babicova (USA) def. Denisa Zobeideh (PSU) 6-1, 6-2
4. Erica Krisan (USA) def. Lauren McCarthy (PSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
5. Katie Welch (USA) def. Dorothy Dohanics (PSU) 0-6, 6-4, 6-2
6. Leyla Morzan (PSU) def. Alina Volman (USA) 7-5, 3-6 (10)
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2, 5, 4, 6