March 19, 2011
HUNTINGTON, W.Va.; March 19, 2011 - The Penn State women's tennis team (4-8, 0-1) earned an impressive win over the Winthrop Eagles 4-3 on Saturday for their fourth victory of the season, matching last seasons win total. Senior Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.) earned the deciding point defeating Giovanna Portioli in fourth singles.
In first doubles, freshman Marie-Frederique Bedard (Montreal, Canada) and sophomore Amy Simidian (Carlstadt, N.J.) defeated Yasmine Alkema and Lisa Wilkinson, 8-5. Bedard and Simidian played together in first doubles for the first time this season. In second doubles, freshman Carmen Sandor (Toronto, Canada) and junior Fernanda Perrotta (Buenos Aires Argentina) earned their third straight doubles victory since being paired together as they defeated Sandra Herrera and Giovanna Portioli, 8-6, to give the Nittany Lions the doubles point. Sophomore Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) and senior Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.) played together for the first time in third singles and defeated Andressa Garcia and Elizaveta Zaysteva, 8-7, (3) for the doubles sweep.
Action moved to singles as the Nittany Lions held a 1-0 lead. In second singles, Simidian fell to Elizaveta Zaysteva, 6-1, 6-4, as the Eagles tied the match at 1-1. In first singles, Januskova earned her team leading seventh victory of the season as she beat Winthrop's Yasmine Alkema, 6-4, 6-4, to give the Nittany Lions a 2-1 lead. With the 2-1 lead, Bedard continued her recent solid play and defeated Lisa Wilkinson, 7-5, 7-6 (4) to push the Penn State lead to 3-1.
In fifth singles, Perrotta fell in a tough three set match to Garcia as the Eagles climbed to within one at 3-2. Sandor won the first set in third singles against Herrera but eventually fell in three sets as the Eagles tied the match, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.
Like it had many times this season for the Nittany Lions, the match came down to the final singles point. Five of its last six matches have ended with a 4-3 count. This time the Nittany Lions and Zobeideh pushed through in fourth singles as the senior defeated Portioli in a tough three set match, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) to give the Lions the match, 4-3.
The Nittany Lions will look to earn another victory in Huntington, W.Va. tomorrow as they face off against the No. 41 Marshall Fighting Herd. The match will likely face No. 1 and No. 2 in the Atlantic region, Michaela Kissell and Petra Januskova, respectively, in first singles. The two met in the finals of the ITA Atlantic Regional with Kissell edging out Januskova. Penn State will return to Happy Valley when they host the Temple Owls at 5 p.m. on Fri., Mar. 25.
--NITTANY LIONS--
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| 3 |
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4
|
Doubles |
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|
Alkema/Wilkinson |
|
#1 |
8-5 |
Bedard/Simidian |
|
Herrera/Portioli |
#2 |
8-6 |
Perrotta/Sandor |
|
|
Garcia/Zaysteva |
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#3 |
8-7 (3) |
Zobeideh/Januskova |
| Order of finish: 1, 2, 3 |
| Singles | ||||
|
Alkema |
#1 |
6-4, 6-4 |
Januskova | |
| Zaysteva |
6-1, 6-4 |
#2 |
|
Simidian |
| Herrera |
4-6, 6-1, 6-0 |
#3 |
|
Sandor |
|
Portioli |
#4 |
6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) |
Zobeideh |
|
| Garcia |
6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-0 |
#5 |
|
Perrotta |
| Wilkinson |
|
#6 | 7-5, 7-6 (4) |
Bedard |
| Order of finish: | 2, 1, 6, 5, 3, 4 | |||