March 17, 2012
University Park, Pa. - The No. 54 Penn State women's tennis team (9-3, 1-0) dominated in its final non-conference match, sweeping the Eastern Michigan Eagles (4-10, 0-0), 7-0. The Nittany Lions have won four matches in a row, including nine of their last ten matches. Penn State improves to a stellar 8-1 at home this season, with two of those matches being played outdoors.
The match began with all three doubles pairings taking the court. Fernanda Perrotta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) teamed with Sarah Henderson (Bloomington, Ind.) in the No. 3 slot versus Daphne Friedrichs and Marcela Rivero. The Penn State duo jumped out to a commanding 7-1 lead and never looked back, ultimately winning 8-4.
In the No. 1 doubles match-up, Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) and Chelsea Utting (Peachtree City, Ga.) faced Nina Mebuke and Miriam Westerink in what turned out to be a heated battle. In a back and forth match, Januskova and Utting thrived, winning in a tie-breaker 9-8.
With the doubles point already secured for the Nittany Lions, Marie-Frederique Bedard (Montreal, Canada) and Nina Sertic (Zagrab, Croatia) were locked in a close match of their own against Mariya Toncheva and Georgia de'Lisle-Tarr. Again, Penn State came out on the winning end, 9-7.
After a ten minute break and a 1-0 lead, singles action began. No. 55 Januskova continued to prove why she is the No. 1 singles player and nationally ranked. The junior earned a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Mebuke to improve to 12-0 on the season.
Perrotta was next to finish for the Nittany Lions, easily defeating Friedrichs in the number four position, 6-1, 6-2, to give Penn State a 3-0 lead. Utting also handled her opponent, breezing by Westerink in the number two spot, 6-3, 6-0, to clinch the victory for the Nittany Lions.
In a grueling No. 6 match, Bedard pulled out the victory over Rivero, 4-6, 6-2, 10-6. Sertic jumped out to a quick 6-0 victory in the first set over Toncheva, but was bested in the second set, 5-7. The senior stormed back to take the tiebreaker, 10-3. Sandor wrapped up the sweep for the Nittany Lions, defeating Bhatia in the No. 3 slot, 7-5, 7-5.
Next up Penn State enters the conference potion of its schedule and will only face Big Ten opponents for the rest of the season. The Nittany Lions host Indiana on Friday, March 23 at 4 p.m. and Purdue on Sunday, March 25 at 11:30 a.m. After that, Penn State will hit the road for the first time in over a month and a half, when it travels to Iowa to take on the Hawkeyes on Friday, March 30 at 5 p.m.
All of the Nittany Lion's home matches can be followed through the link for live stats at http://www.gopsusports.com/livestats/c-tennis/xlive.htm. Make sure to "like" the Penn State Women's Tennis page on Facebook and follow @PSUWomensTennis on Twitter!
NO. 54 PENN STATE 7
EASTERN MICHIGAN 0
2012 Women's Tennis Yearbook 2012 Roster 2012 Schedule Head Coach Dawna Denny 2012 Tennis Camps
| DOUBLES | SINGLES | F | ||||||||
| #1 |
#2 |
#3 | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | ||
0
7
Doubles
Mebuke/Westerink
#1
9-8
Januskova/Utting
Toncheva/de'Lisle-Tarr
#2
9-7
Sertic/Bedard
Friedrichs/Rivero
#3
8-4
Perrotta/Henderson
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
Mebuke
#1
6-0, 6-0
#55 Januskova
Westerink
#2
6-3, 6-0
Utting
Bhatia
#3
7-5, 7-5
Sandor
Friedrichs
#4
6-1, 6-2
Perrotta
Toncheva
#5
6-0, 5-7, 10-3
Sertic
Rivero
#6
4-6, 6-2, 10-6
Bedard
Order of finish:1, 4, 2, 6, 5, 3