April 9, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; - The Penn State women's tennis team will take on two Big Ten opponents this weekend in its final home matches of the 2008-2009 season. The Nittany Lions face the No. 38 Hoosiers on Friday at 4 p.m. and the No. 36 Fighting Illini on Sunday at 11 a.m. Seniors Leyla Morzan (Vancouver, British Columbia) and Dorothy Dohanics (Pittsburgh, Pa.) will be honored during Sunday's match for Senior Day. Weather permitting, the matches will be played outdoors at the Sarni Tennis Center and admission is free.
The Nittany Lions (5-13, 2-4 Big Ten) went 1-1 last weekend in home matches against Michigan State and then-No. 23 Michigan. Penn State battled to a 4-3 victory in a five-hour match against the Spartans. Dohanics clinched the victory for the Lions with a 6-4, 7-6(2) No. 4 singles win in the final match of the day. Junior Lauren McCarthy (Danbury, Conn.) and sophomore Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.) handled Whitney Wilson and Ana Milosavljevic in second doubles, 8-4, for their eighth doubles win of the season. On Sunday, the Nittany Lions were overpowered by No. 23 Michigan, 6-1.
The No. 38 Indiana Hoosiers are 12-7 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten. Senior Sigrid Fischer leads Indiana with a 12-7 record in fourth singles. Freshman Megan Matter and junior Lindsey Stuckey are 6-3 in No. 3 doubles. In 32 seasons at Indiana, head coach Lin Loring has compiled 731 wins, the most in Division I history. The Hoosiers defeated Iowa by a 4-3 margin on April 4. Penn State also edged Iowa, 4-3, on March 29 as Morzan clinched the victory with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win in sixth singles.
No. 36 Illinois is currently third in the Big Ten with a 14-5 overall record and a 5-1 record in the conference. The Fighting Illini's lone Big Ten loss this season was against No. 1 Northwestern on March 13, 6-1. The Illini are coming off a 6-1 loss against No. 4 Notre Dame. Illinois has two ranked singles players in No. 108 Megan Fudge and No. 111 Leigh Finnegan. Finnegan is 13-8 playing in No. 1 singles this season.
The Nittany Lions will be on the road for their final two matches of the regular season. The Lions travel to Wisconsin on Saturday, April 18 to take on the Badgers at noon, followed by a trip to Northwestern on Sunday, April 19 for another noon match. Penn State returns to Wisconsin the week of April 22 for the Big Ten Championship.