March 4, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; March 4, 2011 - The Penn State women's tennis team (3-7, 0-2) fell in another close match to the No. 51 Illinois Illini, 4-3, on Friday. Sophomore Petra Januskova (Ottawa Canada) earned a singles point against No. 92 Rachael White. Januskova and her and partner Amy Simidian (Carlstadt, N.J.) defeated the No. 9 ranked doubles team of White and Allison Falkin in first doubles. Penn State has lost four of their last five matches to ranked teams by a combined four points.
In third doubles, Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.) and Marie-Frederique Bedard (Montreal, Canada) fell to Breanne Smutko and Annie McCarthy, 8-5. In first doubles, Januskova and Simidian defeated No. 9 White and Falkin, 8-6, to even the race for the doubles point. White and Falkin are ranked No. 9 in the nation according to the latest ITA poll. In second doubles, Carmen Sandor (Toronto, Canada) and Fernanda Perrotta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) played Amy Allin and Leigh Finnegan for the doubles point as Penn State took the match, 9-7, and the doubles point.
Action moved to singles with Penn State in the lead as Simidian faced Allin in second singles. Allin took the match and tied the score as she defeated Simidian, 6-2, 6-1. No. 111 Januskova played No. 92 White in first singles as Januskova took the match, 6-3, 6-0 for her seventh win of the season and second over a ranked opponent.
In third singles, Zobeideh fell in a tough match as she battled hard in the second set, eventually falling to Smutko, 6-1, 7-6 (4). Sandor played in a long match with Finnegan in fifth singles. Perrotta dropped the first set but battled back to win the next two and the match, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, to give the Nittany Lions a 3-2 lead.
In sixth singles, Sarah Henderson (Bloomington, Ind.) fell to Allison Falkin, 6-2, 6-3, to tie the match at 3-3. The match came down to fourth singles as Sandor faced Abajian. After falling in the first set, 6-0, Sandor battled hard in the second set and forced Abajian into long points and rallies but eventually fell, 6-0, 7-5, to give the Illini the match, 4-3.
Penn State will be back in action as they travel to New Orleans to take on Tulane at 10 a.m. on Thurs., Mar. 10. The Nittany Lions will then face off against Winthrop and Marshall in Huntington, W.Va. on Sat., Mar. 19, and Sun., Mar. 20.
--NITTANY LIONS--
|
| 4 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3
|
Doubles |
||||
|
White/Falkin |
|
#1 | 8-6 |
Januskova/Simidian |
|
Allin/Finnegan |
#2 |
9-7 |
Perrotta/Sandor |
|
|
Smutko/McCarthy |
8-5 |
#3 |
Zobeideh/Bedard |
|
| Order of finish: 3, 1, 2 |
| Singles | ||||
|
White |
#1 | 6-3, 6-0 | Januskova | |
| Allin |
6-2, 6-1 |
#2 |
|
Simidian |
| Smutko |
6-1, 7-6 (4) |
#3 |
|
Zobeideh |
|
Abajian
|
6-0, 7-5 |
#4 |
|
Sandor |
| Finnegan |
|
#5 |
4-6, 6-4, 6-2 |
Perrotta |
| Falkin |
6-2, 6-3 |
#6 |
Henderson |
|
| Order of finish: | 2, 1, 3, 5, 6, 4 | |||