Nov. 5, 2011
Kalamazoo, Mich. - The Penn State women's tennis team began competition in the Western Michigan Super Challenge today. The Nittany Lions tallied four doubles wins and five singles victories on the opening day of the round robin style tournament.
Five Nittany Lions came out victorious in the first round of singles play. Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) bested Julia Fellerhoff of Louisville, 6-3, 6-2. Chelsea Utting (Peachtree City, Ga.) and Fernanda Perrotta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) also defeated student-athletes from Louisville. Utting bested Sarah Miller, 6-2, 6-3 and Perrotta slid by Gabrielle Duncan, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Penn State's other two singles victories came against fellow Big Ten school, Indiana. Kristen Roth (Ardmore, Pa.) defeated Diana Kyllmann, 6-4, 6-2 and Sarah Henderson (Bloomington, Ind.) beat Ariel Beckerman, 6-3, 6-3.
In other singles action, Carmen Sandor (Toronto, Canada) battled Louisville's Rebecca Shine, but eventually lost 6-2, 7-6 (4). Nina Sertic (Zagrab, Croatia) was bested by Manuela Velasquez, also of Louisville, 6-2, 6-2. Marie-Frederique Bedard (Montreal, Canada) also faced a Cardinal. She was defeated by Mandy Brown, 6-2, 6-2.
Four different Nittany Lion pairs competed in doubles play today as well. Penn State played student athletes from host Western Michigan in the first round. Januskova and Sertic easily defeated April Kerr and Nini Sujashvili, 8-1. Perrotta and Bedard won a close match versus Maria Nivia and Jill Pastunink, 8-6. Sandor and Utting battled against Kathleen Hawkins and Caroline Aleck, but eventually fell 9-8 (5).
In the second round, Penn State competed against fellow Big Ten foe Indiana. Januskova and Sertic won a close match versus Carolyn Chupa and Katie Klyczek, 8-6. Perrotta and Bedard fell to Leslie Hureau and Shannon Murdy, 8-6. Roth and Henderson played two doubles matches against Hoosier duos, defeating Diana Kyllmann and Ariel Beckerman, 8-5, and falling to Alecia Kauss and Sophie Garre, 8-3. Sandor and Utting didn't finish their match against Kayla Fujimoto and Evgeniya Vertesheva, 1-0 retire.
Penn State will continue round robin competition in the WMU Super Challenge tomorrow and Sunday to finish our fall tournament play.