March 25, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; March 25, 2011 - The Penn State women's tennis team (5-9, 0-2) battled back after a slow start and rode the momentum of four straight singles victories to defeat the Temple Owls, 4-3. Sophomore Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) earned her team leading 10th victory in the match. The victory marked the first win for the Nittany Lions when they did not earn the doubles point and their second straight victory overall.
"I was proud of the way we played today especially Carmen Sandor and Denisa Zobeideh. They have been working hard all week and Denisa did a good job of adjusting in her match and Carmen played very steady all day," said head coach Dawna Denny.
In doubles action, the Nittany Lions got off to a tough start in second doubles as freshman Marie-Frederique Bedard (Kiev, Ukraine) and junior Fernanda Perrotta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) fell to Elyse Steiner and Lucie Pazderova, 8-6. Penn State battled back in third doubles as freshman Carmen Sandor (Toronto, Canada) and senior Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.) defeated Yana Mavrina and Alicia Doms, 8-4, to even the competition for the doubles point. The point came down to first doubles as Januskova and sophomore Amy Simidian (Carlstadt, N.J.) fought hard but eventually fell 9-8 (4), to give the Owls the doubles point.
In second singles, Simidian had a solid second set against Steiner, but eventually fell, 6-0, 7-5, to give Temple a 2-0 lead. The Nittany Lions would not go away however, as Januskova earned her team leading 10th win of the season and fourth in five matches as she defeated Theresa Stangl, 6-3, 6-0, to close the gap to 2-1. Penn State kept fighting as Sandor beat Yana Mavrina, 6-4, 6-3 to tie the match at 2-2. The win marked Sandor's seventh of the season and fourth in five matches. Zobeideh kept the momentum going after falling in the first set to Doms by winning the next two and giving the Nittany Lions their first lead of the match with a 2-6, 6-0, 6-2 victory in fourth singles to put the score at 3-2. With momentum on her side, Bedard put the Owls and Pazderova away in a long two set match, 6-1, 6-4, to clinch the match for the Nittany Lions. In sixth singles, Perrotta was forced into a tiebreak third set against Jordan Batey and fell in the final set, 3-6, 6-2, 10-8 to end the match at 4-3.
In an exhibition, Kristen Roth defeated Carly Bohman 8-3.
The Nittany Lions host their second match of the weekend as Big Ten opponent Iowa comes to Happy Valley at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Penn State will continue their stretch of Big Ten opponents as they host the Northwestern Wildcats on Sat., Apr. 2, at 11 a.m. before traveling to East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans at 11 a.m. on Sat., Apr. 9.
--NITTANY LIONS--
|
| 3 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4
|
Doubles |
||||
|
Stangl/Clemont |
9-8 (4) |
#1 |
Januskova/Simidian |
|
|
Steiner/Pazderova |
8-6 |
#2 |
|
Bedard/Perrotta |
|
Mavrina/Doms |
|
#3 |
8-4 |
Zobeideh/Sandor |
| Order of finish: 2, 3, 1 |
| Singles | ||||
|
Stangl |
#1 |
6-3, 6-0 |
Januskova | |
| Steiner |
6-0, 7-5 |
#2 |
|
Simidian |
| Mavrina |
|
#3 |
6-4, 6-3 |
Sandor |
|
Doms |
|
#4 |
2-6, 6-0, 6-2 |
Zobeideh |
| Pazderova |
|
#5 |
6-1, 6-4 |
Bedard |
| Batey |
3-6, 6-2, 10-8 |
#6 |
Perrotta |
|
| Bohman |
8-4 |
Ex. |
Roth |
|
| Order of finish: | 2, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 | |||