March 2, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; March 2, 2011 - The Penn State women's tennis team (3-6, 0-1) will host their Big Ten home opener against the No. 51 Illinois Illini on Friday at 6 p.m in the Indoor Tennis Center. Admission is free and open to the public. This marks the second Big Ten match of the season for the Nittany Lions.
Senior Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.) earned the lone singles point for the Nittany Lions last time out against No. 38 Princeton as she defeated Monia Chow, 7-6 (5), 6-3; in fourth singles. In doubles, junior Fernanda Perrotta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and sophomore Sarah Henderson (Bloomington, Ind.) won a hard fought doubles match against Katherine Flanigan and Chow, 9-8. Junior Kristen Roth (Ardmore, Pa.) has seen more action lately as she played in the doubles spot with Zobeideh for the second time this season against Princeton.
The match against No. 38 Princeton was the second ranked opponent to travel to Penn State over the weekend as the Nittany Lions fell in a tight match to No. 23 VCU on Friday, 4-3. Perrotta and sophomores Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) and Amy Simidian (Carlstadt, N.J.) all won their singles matches over VCU and pushed the No. 23 team in the nation to the finish.
Januskova defeated No. 117 ranked Josefin Hjertquist, 6-3, 7-6, for her sixth victory of the season. Januskova is currently ranked No. 111 in the latest ITA poll and second in the Atlantic Region.
The matchup with Illinois marks the 21st times the teams have met, with Illinois leading the series, 18-2. The Illini are led by head coach Michelle Dasso who is in her fifth season at the helm. Last season, Dasso led the Illini to a 15-10 record and their first finish in the ITA Top 25 since 2004. Sophomore Rachael White is currently ranked No. 92 in the ITA poll, and earned a 14-8 record in the 2009-10 season. White is also ranked in doubles with partner Allison Falkin, as the duo is ranked No. 9 in the nation. Illinois' Breanne Smutko and Chelcie Abajian are also ranked at No. 55 in the latest ITA poll.
Penn State will travel to New Orleans to take on Tulane in their next outing on Thurs., Mar. 10, at 10 a.m. The Nittany Lions will continue their road stand as they travel to Huntington, W.Va. to take on Winthrop on Sat., Mar. 19, and Marshall on Sun., Mar. 20.
--NITTANY LIONS--