April 21, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Big Ten Women's Tennis Championship action begins Thursday in Madison, Wisconsin with No. 9 seed Penn State (5-17, 2-8 Big Ten) facing No. 8 seed Minnesota (11-11, 3-7) at 10 a.m. at the Nielsen Tennis Center.
"We are excited to head to Madison again and play Minnesota," said head coach Dawna Prevette. "They are a tough team and I know we are up for the challenge. We definitely want to be sharp because they will make us earn it."
The Nittany Lions faced the Golden Gophers in regular season play on March 27 at Minnesota. Penn State fell 5-2 in the match. Junior Lauren McCarthy (Danbury, Conn.) edged Tijana Koprivica on the No. 2 court, 6-4, 0-6, 11-9. In fifth singles, freshman Maria Prishlyak (Kiev, Ukraine) slid by Jackie Sperling in another tiebreaker match, 4-6, 6-4, 10-4.
In singles play this year, senior Dorothy Dohanics (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and freshman Monika Mical (Stalowa Wola, Poland) have each grabbed 12 victories. McCarthy has won eight singles matches for the Lions and moved up to the No. 1 position after playing in the No. 2, 3 and 4 spots this season. McCarthy and sophomore partner Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.) have compiled eight doubles wins, including four straight in matches against Lehigh, Minnesota, Iowa and Michigan State.
No. 8 seed Minnesota finished 3-7 in the Big Ten with conference wins over Michigan State, Penn State and Purdue. Karina Chiarelli and Alessandra Ferrazzi are the No. 52 doubles pair in the country with an unblemished 8-0 record in first doubles. Koprivica leads the Gophers in singles with a 14-6 record.
Penn State's match against Minnesota on Thursday will be the opening match of the tournament. The winner will move on to face No. 1 seed Northwestern in the second round on Friday at 10 a.m.