April 15, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa..; April 15, 2011 - The Penn State women's tennis team (6-12, 2-5) earned their second Big Ten victory of the season as they defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers in their first home outdoor match of the season, 4-3, on Friday. Sophomore Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) earned an impressive win over No. 74 Natalia Pintusava, for her fifth victory over a ranked opponent this season.
"Bedard came up clutch for us again. Beating Minnesota was a big step and I'm just really happy with the way we played and how Marie battled to finish the match," said head coach Dawna Denny.
In doubles, sophomore Amy Simidian (Carlstadt, N.J.) and freshman Marie-Frederique Bedard (Montreal, Canada) fell in a tough match to Natalia Pintusava and Alessandra Ferrazzi in first doubles, 8-5. Freshman Carmen Sandor (Toronto, Canada) and junior Fernanda Perrotta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) helped the Nittany Lions get on track as they defeated Yuliana Umanets and Alexa Palen in third doubles, 8-6. The race for the doubles point came down to second doubles in a back-and-forth match as sophomore Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) and senior Denisa Zobeideh (Weston, Fla.) held on to a tight lead and defeated Magdalena Wiecha and Doron Muravnik, 8-6, to give the Nittany Lions the doubles point.
Action moved to singles as Simidian defeated Ferrazzi quickly in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, to push the Nittany Lion lead to 2-0. In sixth singles, Prishlyak fell in a long two sets to Muravnik, 7-5, 6-4, to tighten the margin to 2-1. In first singles, Januskova needed three sets to defeated No. 74 Pintusava, 7-6, 6-3, to increase the Nittany Lion lead to 3-1. Januskova leads the Nittany Lions with twelve singles victories.
In fourth singles, Sandor fell in a hard fought third set tiebreak against Wiecha, 6-4, 7-6 (4), to shrink the Nittany Lions lead to 3-2.
With the match on the line, Bedard and Umanets battled back and forth in a third set tiebreak as Bedard eventually won, 6-0, 1-6, 7-6 (10), to clinch the match for the Nittany Lions. The two worked hard through the third set tiebreak holding off several match points as Bedard came through with the win.
In third singles, Zobeideh played a marathon match against Palen, who defeated Zobeideh, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-2, to mark the score at 4-3.
Penn State will play their final home match of the season on Sun., Apr. 17, at 11 a.m. against the Wisconsin Badgers. The Nittany Lions will then travel to Indiana to take on the Purdue Boilermakers on Sat., Apr. 23 at 12 p.m. followed by the Indiana Hoosiers on Sun., Apr. 24 at 11 a.m.
--NITTANY LIONS--
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| 3 |
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4
|
Doubles |
||||
|
Pintusava/Ferrazzi |
8-5 |
#1 |
Simidian/Bedard |
|
|
Wiecha/Muravnik |
#2 |
8-6 |
Januskova/Zobeideh |
|
|
Umanets/Palen |
|
#3 |
8-6 |
Sandor/Perrotta |
| Order of finish: 1, 3, 2 |
| Singles | ||||
|
Pintusava |
#1 |
7-6 (4), 6-3 |
Januskova | |
| Ferrazzi |
|
#2 |
6-1, 6-3 |
Simidian |
| Palen |
6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-2 |
#3 |
|
Zobeideh |
|
Wiecha |
#4 |
6-4, 7-6 (4) |
Sandor |
|
| Umanets |
6-0, 1-6, 7-6 (10) |
#5 |
|
Bedard |
| Muravnik |
7-5, 6-4 |
#6 |
Prishlyak |
|
| Order of finish: | 6, 2, 1 4, 5, 3 | |||