March 18, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; - After a two-match road trip in Florida, the Penn State women's tennis team (2-11, 0-2 Big Ten) returns home to host Lehigh tomorrow at 4 p.m. The match will be played at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center and admission is free. Lehigh comes to Happy Valley with a 3-7 record.
Last time out, the Nittany Lions traveled to Orlando to take on the Knights of Central Florida. Sophomore Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.) picked up singles and doubles wins in the 5-2 loss. In third singles, Zobeideh defeated Elvira Serrot in three sets, 6-4, 1-6. 6-2. Senior Leyla Morzan (Vancouver, British Columbia) came from behind to win the super tiebreaker and top Rodriguez in the No. 4 singles match, 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8).
In doubles action, Zobeideh and junior partner Lauren McCarthy (Danbury, Conn.) handled Alexis Rodriguez and Andrea Yacaman in the No. 2 match-up, 8-4. In a March 13 loss to South Florida, Zobeideh and McCarthy also notched a No. 3 doubles victory against Iciri Rai and Natalia Guevara, 8-5. The pair is currently on a two-match win streak and has five doubles wins on the season.
Head coach Dave Shook is in his thirteenth season with the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh is coming off two losses last weekend to Stony Brook and Delaware. The Mountain Hawks have defeated Fairleigh Dickinson, Towson and Lewis this season. Senior Allie Schwartz has been the top performer for Lehigh this season playing in the No. 1 position for both singles and doubles. Appearing in the No. 4 and 5 positions, junior Stacey Reich is 5-3 in singles play.
The Nittany Lions are 6-0 all-time against the Mountain Hawks. In their most recent meeting, Penn State blanked Lehigh, 7-0, on March 17, 2006.
Following tomorrow's match, Penn State will jump into eight straight Big Ten matches to close out the regular season. The Lions are back on the road next week at Minnesota on Friday, March 27 at 6:30 p.m. The Lions travel to Iowa City on Sunday, March 29 to take on the Hawkeyes of Iowa at 12 p.m.