Jan. 21, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; January 21, 2011 - The Penn State women's tennis team, (0-0, 0-0) opens its spring season this Saturday at the Sarni Tennis Center against the Akron Zips, (0-0) for their first dual match of the season.
The Nittany Lions are coming off a strong fall season, where they landed four players in the first ITA poll, including sophomore Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) at No. 59 in singles. Also cracking the rankings were the doubles pairings of juniors Kristen Roth (Ardmore, Pa) and Maria Prishlyak (Kiev, Ukraine) as well as Januskova and junior Fernanda Perrotta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) in a nine-way tie for No. 68.
Penn State went 41-35 in the fall season, including two championships at the WMU Super Challenge with Januskova taking home the singles crown and the pairing of Perrotta and Januskova winning doubles. Januskova also finished runner-up at the ITA Atlantic Regional, helping her land the No. 2 spot in the ITA Atlantic Region ranking.
Also competing for the Nittany Lions this weekend will be senior Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.) and sophomores Sarah Henderson (Bloomington, Ind.) and Amy Simidian (Carlstadt, N.J.). Newcomers include freshmen Carmen Sandor (Toronto, Canada) and Marie-Frederique Bedard (Montreal, Canada).
Saturday's dual match is the first of the regular season for the Nittany Lions. Last year, the Nittany Lions posted a 4-19 record, including victories over Lehigh, Temple, Bucknell and Texas State. This season, the Nittany Lions will face 13 opponents currently ranked in the ITA Top 100, including eight from the Big Ten.
Penn State is 0-1 all time against the Zips, with their lone match coming on January 29, 2010 at University Park in a 5-2 loss. The Zips posted a 19-3 record last season after closing their year with a loss at the MAC Championship. Akron returns all but one starter from last year, including junior Zaruhi Harutyunyan, who went 21-2 from the No. 1 position.
The Nittany Lions remain home following their match with the Zips as they host rival Pittsburgh at Sarni Tennis Center at 4 p.m. on Wed., Jan. 26 followed by a doubleheader on Tues., Februrary 8 vs. Bucknell and California (Pa.). Big Ten play begins when the Nittany Lions travel to Columbus to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes on Fri., Februrary 11 at 2 p.m.
--NITTANY LIONS--