Jan. 29, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; - After going 2-0 last weekend against Bucknell and Lehigh, the Penn State women's tennis team (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) suffered its first lost of the season tonight against Akron (2-0, 0-0 MAC), 5-2. Sophomores Michaela Stracar (Jericho, N.Y.) and Maria Prishlyak (Kiev, Ukraine) nabbed points for the Nittany Lions with two singles wins.
Opening the match in doubles play, Akron took an early advantage as Zara Harutyunyan and Jeremie Benjamin topped freshman Sarah Henderson (Auckland, New Zealand) and Stracar 8-2, in third doubles. Following on the No. 1 court, seniors Sarah Lotto (Toronto, Ontario) and Lauren McCarthy (Danbury, Conn.) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead over Angelika Jogasuria and Prang Pantusart as the Akron pair was unable to find an answer for Lotto's serve. After three ties and three lead changes, the Zips tandem pulled away to take an 8-5 win and clinch the doubles point for Akron.
Freshman Amy Simidian (Carlstadt, N.J.) and Prishlyak battled with Angelina Jogasuria and Anya Baronayte in second doubles, tying the score six times throughout the match before falling by a narrow 9-7 margin.
The match moved into singles play with Akron leading 1-0. Lotto struggled early against Harutyunyan, the nation's No. 75 singles player, falling 6-1 in the first set of No. 1 singles. The Nittany Lion senior hung around in the second set, tying the score at 3-3, but eventually dropped a 6-4 decision.
With Akron leading 2-0, Prishlyak stormed by Angelika Jogasuria in third singles, 6-1, 6-4 to pull Penn State within one. Next on the No. 2 court, Angelina Jogasuria put Akron ahead 3-1 with a 6-2, 6-2 win over McCarthy.
Following in fourth singles, Simidian took an early 4-1 lead in the first set, but Pantusart rallied back to a 6-4 win. After a fifth tie in the second set at 6-6, the match moved into a tiebreaker. Simidian dug herself an early hole, falling behind 6-1, but came back to trail by only one at 6-5. However, Pantusart clinched the match victory for Akron in dramatic fashion by edging Simidian 7-5 in the tiebreaker.
With Akron ahead 4-1 and the win sealed, Stracar picked up her third singles win of the season as she cruised by Benjamin in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5. Next in fifth singles, Baronayte narrowly Henderson in the first set, 7-6(3). In the second set, Henderson fought through a grueling series of deuces to trail by only one at 5-4. However, Baronayte hung on to win the next game and secure the set victory, 6-4.
Penn State opens Big Ten play next weekend when it travels to West Lafayette, Ind. to take on the Purdue Boilermakers on Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. The following weekend, the Lions play at Wichita State on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 1 p.m. and at Oklahoma on Sunday, Feb. 14 at 11 a.m.
Akron 5, Penn State 2
Doubles
1. Angelika Jogasuria/Pantusart (UA) def. Lotto/McCarthy (PSU), 8-5
2. Angelina Jogasuria/Baronayte (UA) def. Prishlyak/Simidian (PSU), 9-7
3. Harutyunyan/Benjamin (UA) def. Henderson/Stracar (PSU), 8-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. No. 75 Zara Harutyunyan (UA) def. Sarah Lotto (PSU), 6-1, 6-4
2. Angelina Jogasuria (UA) def. Lauren McCarthy (PSU), 6-2, 6-2
3. Maria Prishlyak (PSU) def. Angelika Jogasuria (UA), 6-1, 6-4
4. Prang Pantusart (UA) def. Amy Simidian (PSU), 6-4, 7-6(5)
5. Michaela Stracar (PSU) def. Jeremie Benjamin (UA), 6-3, 7-5
6. Anya Baronayte (UA) def. Sarah Henderson (PSU), 7-6(3), 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2, 4, 5, 6