March 16, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; March 16, 2011 - The Penn State Nittany Lions (3-8, 0-2) travel to Huntington W.Va. this weekend to take on the Winthrop Eagles on Sat., Mar. 19, and the No. 41 Marshall Thundering Herd on Sun., Mar. 20.
The Nittany Lions are coming off several tough losses including three 4-3 losses to ranked teams including William & Mary, VCU, and Illinois.
Sophomore Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) leads the Nittany Lions with six singles victories including three wins over ranked opponents. Januskova and sophomore Amy Simidian (Carlstadt, N.J.) have won two straight matches in first doubles including a victory over the No. 9 pairing of Illinois' Rachael White and Allison Falkin.
Senior Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.) has earned four victories this season and has moved into the third singles role. Junior Fernanda Perrotta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) earned a victory over Tulane and has won her last two doubles matches with freshman Carmen Sandor (Toronto, Canada). Sandor has played strong as a freshman and has won her last two singles matches.
Sophomore Sarah Henderson (Bloomington, Ind.), freshman Marie-Frederique Bedard (Montreal, Canada), and senior Kristen Roth (Ardmore, Pa.) have all won multiple matches this year and will be competing for the sixth singles spot this weekend.
Winthrop is led by head coach Cid Carvahlo in his 24th season as the head coach of both the men's and women's tennis teams. He has been voted the Big South Conference women's Coach of the Year nine times and has led the team to 10 NCAA tournament appearances. The Eagles hold a 10-9 record this season and are led by sophomore Yasmine Alkema and junior Sandra Herrera who were ranked for much of the season.
The No. 41 Marshall Thundering Herd are led by head coach and Penn State alumni John Mercer. Mercer played his collegiate tennis at Penn State and was an academic all-conference selection during his time in Happy Valley. He served as an assistant coach at Penn State following his senior season before taking a position at the University of Texas. Mercer is in his ninth season at Marshall and guided the Thundering Herd to 19 wins and a ranking as high as No. 28 last season. The Herd is led by No. 28 Michaela Kissell who defeated Januskova in the finals of the ITA Atlantic Regional this fall as Januskova fell 7-5, 6-0. Kissell and Januskova are currently ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the Atlantic Region, respectively. Kissell is also ranked in doubles with partner Dominica Zapranza at No. 28.
The Nittany Lions return to Happy Valley when they host the Temple Owls on Fri., Mar. 25 at 5 p.m. followed by a match against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sun., Mar. 27 at 11 a.m.
--NITTANY LIONS--