March 6, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; - The Penn State women's tennis team (3-8, 0-2 Big Ten) topped Pennsylvania rival Temple (3-5, 0-1 Atlantic 10) today, 4-3. The Nittany Lions won on all three doubles courts and in three of six singles matches.
"It's great for us to get a win heading into spring break," said head coach Dawna Prevette. "The girls have worked hard and they deserve a victory."
Penn State jumped out to an early 1-0 win after sweeping the doubles competition. The Nittany Lions extended their lead and clinched the match victory with three-straight singles wins. To close out the match, Temple came out on top in two singles matches and also won on the No. 5 court due to retirement.
In doubles play, the freshman duo of Amy Simidian (Carlstadt, N.J.) and Sarah Henderson (Auckland, New Zealand) set the tone early, dropping May Johnson and Katharina Mittag in third doubles, 8-4. Following in first doubles, Maria Prishlyak (Kiev, Ukraine) and Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Ontario) nabbed their third doubles win of the spring as they defeated Anastasiia Rukavyshnykova and Lucie Pazderova on the No. 1 court, 8-4.
In second doubles, senior Lauren McCarthy (Danbury, Conn.) and sophomore Michaela Stracar (Jericho, N.Y.) jumped out to an early 3-1 lead, on their way to an 8-3 win over Theresa Stangl and Josephine Bergman to complete the Penn State doubles sweep.
With Penn State leading 1-0, the match moved into singles play. McCarthy fell behind Josephine Bergman early in fourth singles, 1-0. The senior then rallied to take a straight set win, 6-2, 6-1, putting the Nittany Lions ahead 2-0. Simidian blanked Pazderova in the first set of second singles, 6-0. She continued to dominate in the second set, taking a 6-2 win for the straight-set victory.
On the No. 1 court, Januskova led Rukavyshnykova by only one game at 3-2 in the first set, but held her off to take a 6-2 win. The Penn State freshman clinched the match victory for her team as she shut ukavyshnykova out in the second set, 6-0.
On the No. 3 court, Prishlyak dug herself into a hole in the first set, trailing Stangl 4-1. The Nittany Lion sophomore rallied to trail by only one at 4-5, Stangl hung on to take the first set, 6-4. Stangl jumped ahead again in the second set, 3-0, followed by a Prishlyak rally to put the score at 3-2. Stangl held Prishlyak's effort off again, winning 6-2 and notching Temple's first point of the afternoon.
Stracar was leading Mittag on the No. 6 court, 3-2, but was forced to retire due to injury, putting the match score at 4-2. In the final match of the day, Henderson fell behind Johnson 1-2 in the first set then cruised to a 6-2 win. Johnson answered with a 6-3 victory in the second set. In the tiebreaker, Johnson came away with a 10-7 win to put the final match score at 4-3.
Penn State hits the road next week for two non-conference matches in Texas. The Nittany Lions face the Bobcats of Texas State on Wednesday at 11 a.m. and the No. 22 SMU Mustangs on Friday, March 12 at noon. The following weekend, the Lions hit the East Coast for 2 p.m. match at Princeton on Saturday, March 20.
Penn State 4, Temple 3
Doubles
1. Maria Prishlyak/Petra Januskova (PSU) def. Anastasiia Rukavyshnykova/Lucie Pazderova (TU), 8-4
2. Lauren McCarthy/Michaela Stacar (PSU) def. Theresa Stangl/Josephine Bergman (TU), 8-3
3. Amy Simidian/Sarah Henderson (PSU) def. May Johnson/Katharina Mittag (TU), 8-4 Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. No. 66 Petra Januskova (PSU) def. Anastasiia Rukavyshnykova (TU), 6-2, 6-0
2. Amy Simidian (PSU) def. Lucie Pazderova (TU), 6-0, 6-2
3. Theresa Stangl (TU) def. Maria Prishlyak (PSU), 6-4, 6-2
4. Lauren McCarthy (PSU) def. Josephine Bergman (TU), 6-2, 6-1
5. May Johnson (TU) def. Sarah Henderson (PSU), 6-2, 3-6
6. Katharina Mittag (TU) def. Michaela Stracar (PSU), 2-3, retired
Order of Finish: 4, 2, 1, 3, 6, 5