Feb. 10, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; February 10, 2011 - The Penn State women's tennis team, (3-1, 0-0) starts its Big Ten season on the road when it travels to Ohio State Friday and will remain in Columbus to take on the William & Mary Tribe Saturday.
The Nittany Lions are coming off a doubleheader sweep of Bucknell and California (Pa.) and are on their first three-match winning streak since 2008. Penn State defeated the Bison, 7-0, before besting the Vulcans, 6-1.
Sophomore Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) has won four straight singles matches and is currently ranked No. 59 in the ITA poll. She defeated California's (Pa.) Frazsiska Stenhardt, 6-0, 6-0, in her last match.
Also ranked in the ITA poll is the doubles pairing of Januskova and junior Fernanda Perrotta (Buenos Aires, Argentina), who won both of their matches in the doubleheader. Earning two victories for the Nittany Lions in the doubleheader were sophomore Amy Simidian (Carlstadt, N.J.), senior Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.), sophomore Sarah Henderson (Bloomington, Ind.), junior Maria Prishlyak (Kiev, Ukraine), and freshman Carmen Sandor (Toronto, Canada).
Penn State is 15-27 all-time against the Buckeyes, with their only meeting last year coming in a 7-0 loss. Ohio State is currently ranked No. 32 in the ITA. This marks the first meeting between Penn State and a ranked opponent this season. The Buckeyes are led by junior Kelsey Haviland, who is ranked No. 125 in the ITA. Also cracking the rankings for the Buckeyes are the doubles pairings of Haviland and Gabby Steele at No. 50, as well as Cami Hubbs and Paloma Escobedo at No. 64. Chuck Merzbacher is in his 15th season as the head coach of the Buckeyes. He has led the team to nine NCAA Tournament appearances, including the last three years.
William & Mary is coached by Meredeth Geiger-Walton, who is in her third season at William & Mary. Geiger-Walton has coached six All-CAA players and accumulated 24 wins in her first two seasons. The Tribe is currently ranked No. 65 in the ITA poll.
The Nittany Lions will return to State College to take on the Iowa State Cyclones at 1 p.m. on Fri., Feb. 19 before hosting VCU on Fri., Feb. 25 at 5 p.m.
--NITTANY LIONS--