April 11, 2012
University Park, Pa. - The No. 52 Penn State women's tennis team (11-7, 3-4) looks to take down two highly ranked opponents this weekend when it travels to Illinois. The Nittany Lions will face the Wildcats (12-7, 6-1) on Saturday at 11 a.m. and take on the Illini (13-6, 5-2) on Sunday, also at 11 a.m.
The Nittany Lions are coming off a convincing victory in which they defeated Wisconsin, 4-3, in an extremely hard-fought match. Penn State came out strong, winning the doubles point thanks to victories from the duos of Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) / Chelsea Utting (Peachtree City, Ga.) and Nina Sertic (Zagrab, Croatia) / Fernanda Perrotta(Buenos Aires, Argentina). The Nittany Lions also tallied points thanks to singles wins from Januskova, Utting and Sertic.
After compiling a 9-4 record since they teamed up in the No. 1 doubles spot, Januskova and Utting broke into the most recent ITA doubles poll released Tuesday, coming in at No. 84. Additionally, Januskova continued her season-long stay in the singles poll, garnering a No. 74 ranking, thanks to a 15-3 record.
In 13 seasons at the helm of the Northwestern women's tennis program, Claire Pollard has brought the Wildcats from regular contender in the Big Ten to national powerhouse. She coached Northwestern to 11 consecutive Big Ten championships from 1999-2009 - the second longest streak by any women's program in Big Ten history. All of Northwestern's seven losses this season were to teams ranked in the ITA Top 25. The Wildcats are led by No. 13 Katy Turvy in the No. 1 singles position. The junior has compiled a 14-7 record so far this season. Live stats for the match against Northwestern can be found at http://www.nusports.com/ sports/w-tennis/spec-rel/nw-w- tennis-livestats.html.
Michelle Dasso enters her fifth season leading the Illini. In her four short seasons, Dasso has made huge strides with the women's tennis program. Last season, the Illini were rewarded with their first top-25 finish in the final ITA rankings since 2004, after making their third straight NCAA tournament appearance. Illinois is led by No. 119 Allison Falkin in the No. 1 singles spot. Additionally, all of the Illini doubles pairings are currently ranked at No. 55, No. 57 and No. 76, respectively. Keep up with all of the action during Sunday's match at http://www. fightingillini.com/sports/w- tennis/livestats.html.
Following this weekend's trip, the Nittany Lions will return home for their last match in Happy Valley, when they host No. 14 Michigan on Fri., April 20 at 3 p.m. Penn State will close out regular season play, when it travels to Michigan State on Sun., April 22 at 11 a.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!