April 14, 2012
Evanston, Ill. - The No. 11 Northwestern women's tennis team (14-7, 7-1) lived up to its high ranking and first place standing in the Big Ten, as it defeated the No. 52 Penn State Nittany Lions (11-8, 3-5) on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats proved too much to handle for the Nittany Lions, as they jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back. Fernanda Perrotta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) tallied the only point for Penn State, as she defeated the first ranked opponent of her career.
Northwestern came out of the gates strong in doubles play, as Belinda Niu and Katie Turvy defeated Nina Sertic (Zagrab, Croatia) and Marie-Frederique Bedard (Montreal, Canada), 8-3, in the number three slot. Nida Hamilton and Brittany Wowchuk also came out victorious for the Wildcats, as the duo bested Perrotta and Carmen Sandor (Toronto, Canada), 8-4, in the No. 2 match.
With the doubles point secured for Northwestern, No. 84 Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) and Chelsea Utting (Peachtree City, Ga.) were battling Linda Abu Mushrefova and Veronica Corning in the No. 1 position. The Penn State duo lived up to their recent ranking, as they won a hard-fought match, 8-7. Since teaming up in the middle for February, the duo has tallied a 10-4 record, including two victories over ranked opponents.
Northwestern took a 1-0 lead heading in to singles play and never looked back. Mushrefova dominated Sertic in the No. 5 bout. The Wildcat defeated the senior, 6-0, 6-2. In the No. 4 match, Sandor fell to Corning, 6-1, 6-2, as Northwestern garnered a 3-0 lead.
In the No. 1 spot, No. 74 Januskova looked to take down the third ranked opponent of the season, as she faced No. 13 Turvy. However, it just wasn't the junior's day, as she was bested by the Wildcat, 6-1, 6-1. With that match, Northwestern tallied a 4-0 lead to clinch the victory, as three matches were still in progress.
Utting faced Niu in the number two match. After a two close sets, the sophomore was eventually defeated, 6-4, 6-3. In the No. 6 bout, Bedard was upended by Hamilton, 6-2, 6-4.
In the No. 3 position, Perrotta powered through her first set to defeat No. 62 Wowchuk, 6-4. In the second set, the senior fell to the Wildcat, 6-3. Perrotta rallied in the tiebreaker, 1-0, to earn her first victory over a ranked opponent and tally Penn State's only point of the match.
Penn State will head to Champaign to take on No. 23 Illinois tomorrow at 11 a.m. Follow all of the action during that 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!
NO. 52 PENN STATE 1
NO. 11 NORTHWESTERN 6
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 | ||
6
1
Doubles
Mushrefova/Corning
#1
8-7
No. 84Januskova/Utting
Hamilton/Wowchuk
8-4
#2
Perrotta/Sandor
Niu/Turvey8-3
#3
Bedard/Sertic
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
No. 13 Turvy
6-1, 6-1
#1
No. 74 Januskova
Niu
6-4, 6-3
#2
Utting
No. 62 Wowchuk
#3
6-4, 3-6, 1-0
Perrotta
Corning
6-1, 6-2
#4
Sandor
Mushrefova
6-0, 6-2
#5
Sertic
Hamilton
6-2, 6-4
#6
Bedard
Order of finish:5, 4, 1, 2, 6, 3