March 25, 2012
University Park, Pa. - The No. 46 Penn State women's tennis team (10-4, 2-1) bounced back after a loss on Friday to defeat No. 27 Purdue (10-2, 1-1), 4-3. Several Nittany Lions battled through tough matches to pull off the upset.
"I feel like this team is resilient," said Head Coach Dawna Denny. "We might have a hiccup or two along the way, but we're fighting. We're trying to continually get better."
In doubles action, Marie-Frederique Bedard (Montreal, Canada) and Nina Sertic (Zagrab, Croatia) teamed up to take on Lynda Xepoleas and Daniela Vidal in the No. 2 doubles match. The Boilermaker duo jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, defeating the Nittany Lion pair, 8-1.
In the number three doubles match, Fernanda Perrotta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Sarah Henderson (Bloomington, Ind.) cruised to a 8-4 victory over Gisella Pere and Anna Dushkina.
With the first two doubles matches split, the doubles point came down to the number one match. Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) and Chelsea Utting (Peachtree City, Ga.) went down to the wire against Jennifer Rabot and Mara Schmidt. After a close match that went back and forth, the Nittany Lion duo pulled out the win, 9-7, to secure the point for Penn State.
No. 55 Januskova bounced back from her first loss of the season on Friday, to dominate Rabot in a, 6-0, 6-0 straight set victory in the No. 1 singles match-up.
In the number three slot, Sandor was bested by Schmidt, 6-1, 6-1. Schmidt has been stellar in singles action this spring, compiling a 10-1 record, with her only loss coming Friday against No. 66 Ohio State.
Perrotta took on Vidal in the No. 4 spot. The senior was bested by the Boilermaker, 6-3, 7-5. With four singles matches still in progress the score was tied 2-2.
Utting faced Xepoleas in the number two match. The sophomore breezed to a 6-1 victory in the first set, but was upended in the second, 6-2, to force a third. Utting rose to the occasion, dominating Xepoleas, 6-2, for the win and giving Penn State a 3-2 lead.
In the No. 5 slot, Sertic battled against Pere, but eventually lost a tight match 5-7, 6-1, 7-5. With the score tied at 3-3, the match came down to Bedard in the No. 6 spot.
After winning the first set, 6-4, Bedard dropped the second, 4-6, to Dushkina. With the pressure on and all of her teammates cheering her on, Bedard proved up to the task. The sophomore battled back from a three game deficit to win, 6-4, and clinch the victory for the Nittany Lions.
"The thing about Marie (Bedard) is that she's been in those situations before and she always steps up under pressure," said Denny. "She's a warrior out there; she clinched it for the team after being down. We made some adjustments and she did a great job."
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 on Friday, April 6 at 5 p.m. and Wisconsin on Sunday, April 8 at 11 a.m.
Be sure to keep up with the Penn State women's tennis team on social media by "liking" Penn State Women's Tennis on Facebook and following @PSUWomensTennis on Twitter!
NO. 46 PENN STATE 4
NO. 27 PURDUE 3
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 | ||
3
4
Doubles
Rabot/Schmidt
#1
9-7
Januskova/Utting
Vidal/Xepoleas
8-1
#2
Sertic/Bedard
Pere/Dushkina
#3
8-4
Henderson/Perrotta
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
Rabot
#1
6-0, 6-0
#55 Januskova
Xepoleas
#2
6-1, 2-6, 6-2
Utting
Schmidt
6-1, 6-1
#3
Sandor
Vidal
6-3, 7-5
#4
Perrotta
Pere
5-7, 6-1, 7-5
#5
Sertic
Dushkina
#6
6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Bedard
Order of finish:1, 3, 4, 2, 5, 6