March 21, 2012
University Park, Pa. - The No. 46 Penn State women's tennis team (9-3, 1-0) hope to build off a successful non-conference schedule when it opens the rest of its Big Ten schedule this weekend. The Nittany Lions will host No. 57 Indiana (11-4, 0-1) on Friday, March 23 at 4 p.m. and No. 27 Purdue (9-1, 0-0) on Sunday, March 25 at 11:30 a.m. Penn State is riding a four-match win streak, including victories in nine of its last ten matches. The Nittany Lions are a stellar 8-1 at home this season. Friday's match against the Hoosiers will feature free pizza for all fans in attendance.
Penn State last took the court on Sunday, when it swept Eastern Michigan, 7-0; however the win did not come easy. The Nittany Lions won the doubles match after coming out victorious in three intense matches. No. 55 Petra Januskova continued her singles dominance, breezing by Nino Mebuke in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0. Chelsea Utting and Fernanda Perrotta also picked up easy wins for the Nittany Lions. Nina Sertic and Marie Bedard won both of their respective matches in tiebreakers and Carmen Sandor battled for a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Ankita Bhatia.
Lin Loring enters his 35th season at the helm of the Hoosiers program and as the all time winningest coach in NCAA Division I Women's Tennis history. Leslie Hureau and Evgeniya Vertesheva lead Indiana in the No. 1 and 2 singles spot, after being named to the All-Big Ten team in 2011. Hureau has tallied an 11-3 record so far this season, with her only losses coming from opponents ranked in the ITA Top 40. The Nittany Lions have not beaten the Hoosiers since the spring of 2003 and are 3-23 all time against Indiana.
In Laura Glitz's five seasons as head coach of the Boilermakers, Purdue has continually improved - including a third place finish in the Big Ten last season. Jennifer Rabot leads the No. 27 Boilermakers at the No. 1 singles position and Mara Schmidt is undefeated this season, with a 10-0 record. Purdue also holds an advantage in the all time series record, boasting a 5-19 lead. The Nittany Lions have not defeated the Boilermakers since the spring of 1994.
Next up, Penn State will hit the road for the first time in over a month and a half, when it travels to Iowa on Friday, March 30 at 5 p.m. and Nebraska on Sunday, April 1 at 11 a.m. The Nittany Lions will return home the following weekend when they host Minnesota and Wisconsin on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
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!