Feb. 25, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; February 25, 2011 - The Penn State women's tennis team (3-5, 0-1) fell in a competitive match to the 23rd-ranked Virginia Commonwealth Rams, 4-3, on Friday. Sophomores Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) Amy Simidian (Carlstadt, N.J.) and junior Fernanda Perrotta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) each earned singles points for the Nittany Lions.
"We played them tight all match and fought hard. I think we gave a good team everything they had today," said head coach Dawna Denny.
In second doubles, Simidian and freshman Carmen Sandor (Toronto, Canada) were bested by Ana Bara and Josefin Hjertquist, 8-1. Senior Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.) and sophomore Sarah Henderson (Bloomington, Ind.) fell in a tight match to Daria Yakavleva and Manuela Pitzuch in third doubles, 8-6, to give VCU the doubles point. Januskova and junior Fernanda Perrotta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) also fell in a close match to VCU's Kateryan Yergina and Alex Bara, 8-6, in first doubles.
The action moved to singles play as Sandor was defeated in second singles by Yergina, 6-3, 6-2. The freshman was playing in the No. 2 spot for the second time this season. In fourth singles, Zobeideh fell in a hard fought match to Alex Bara, 6-2, 6-3, to give the Rams a 3-0 lead.
Januskova held off the Rams and kept the Nittany Lions alive as she topped No. 117 Hjertquist, 6-3, 7-6 (5), in first singles. Januskova had to stave off a comeback in the second set by Hjertquist but eventually won the extended set in seven games and closed the gap to 3-1. Januskova is currently ranked No. 89 in the latest ITA poll and is No. 2 in the Atlantic Region.
In the longest match of the afternoon, Simidian earned an impressive victory over Ana Bara after falling in the first set, 6-2. Simidian showed toughness as she battled back to win a long second set, 7-5, and used the momentum to win the final set and the match, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, to tighten the competition at 3-2.
The comeback came up short as Henderson fell to Olga Terteac in sixth singles, 6-0, 6-2 to give the Rams the victory. In fifth singles, Perrotta lost the first set but battled hard in the second set as Yakavleva was forced to retire to give Perrotta the victory.
Junior Maria Prishlyak (Kiev, Ukraine) defeated Manuela Pietzuch, 7-5 in an exhibition.
Penn State hosts Princeton on Sunday at noon at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center. Admission is free. The Nittany Lions will return to action as they host their Big Ten home opener on Fri., March 4 at 6 p.m. to take on the Illinois Illini. Penn State will then hit the road as it travels to New Orleans to take on Tulane on Thu., March 10. at 10 a.m.
--NITTANY LIONS--
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||