March 14, 2009
TAMPA, Fla.; - South Florida grabbed a win over the Penn State women's tennis team today, defeating the Nittany Lions 7-0. The Lions travel to Orlando tomorrow to face Central Florida at 2 p.m.
South Florida (3-8) snatched an early 1-0 in the match by winning two of three doubles matches. The Bulls continued their charge throughout singles competition, handling the Nittany Lions (2-10, 0-2 Big Ten) in all six matches.
Seniors Leyla Morzan (Vancouver, British Columbia) and Dorothy Dohanics (Pittsburgh, Pa.) kicked off the match against Jessica Zok and Allyn Mueller in second doubles. Zok and Mueller found their rhythm early and downed the Nittany Lion duo, 8-0. Following on the No. 1 court, junior Sarah Lotto (Toronto, Ontario) and freshman Monika Mical (Stalowa Wola, Poland) won two before falling to Irene Rehberger and Lauren Schumate, 8-2. With the Bulls ahead 1-0, junior Lauren McCarthy (Danbury, Conn.) and sophomore Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.) handled Iciri Rai and Natalia Guevara in the No. 3 match-up, 8-5.
Mical and Rehberger faced off in the No. 1 match-up to open singles competition. Rehberger picked up the straight-set win, 6-2, 6-1. In sixth singles, Schumate jumped ahead of Lotto with a 6-4 win in the first set. Schumate carried her momentum into the second set, shutting Lotto out, 6-0.
With USF ahead 3-0, freshman Michaela Stracar (Jericho, N.Y.) squared off with Mueller in fifth singles. Mueller moved ahead with a 6-3 first set victory and clinched the match for the Bulls with a 6-0 win in the second set. Rai avenged her doubles loss against McCarthy in the No. 2 singles match-up with 6-3, 6-1 win.
Following in third singles, Zobeideh dropped a tough match to Zok in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. In the final match of the day, Morzan fell behind Guevara early, dropping the first set 6-4. Morzan battled back to tie the match with a 6-4 win in the second set. With the match down to a super tiebreaker, Guevara stole the match from Morzan with an 11-9 victory.
Penn State takes on Central Florida tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Orlando. The Nittany Lions return home next week to host Lehigh at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center on Thursday, March 19 at 4 p.m. Admission to the match is free. The Lions will be on the road again for a Big Ten match-up at Minnesota on Friday, March 27 at 6:30 p.m.
USF 7 , Penn State 0
Doubles
1. Irene Rehberger / Lauren Shumate (USF) def. Lotto/Mical (PSU) 8-2
2. Allyn Mueller/ Jessica Zok (USF) def. Morzan/ Dohanics (PSU)- 8-0
3. McCarthy/ Zobeideih (PSU) def. Iciri Rai/ Natalia Guevara (USF) 8-5
Singles
1. Irene Rehberger (USF) def. Monika Mical (PSU) 6-2, 6-1
2. Jessica Zok (USF) def. . Lauren McCarthy (PSU) 6-3, 6-1
3. Iciri Rai (USF) def. Denisa Zobeideh (PSU) 6-2, 6-2
4. Natalia Guevara (USF) def. Leyla Morzan (PSU) 6-4, 4-6, 11-9
5. Allyn Mueller (USF) def. Michaela Stracar (PSU) 6-3, 6-0
6. Lauren Shumate (USF) def. Sarah Lotto (PSU) 6-4, 6-0