April 18, 2012
University Park, Pa. - The No. 50 Penn State women's tennis team (11-9, 3-6) look to take down the No. 14 Michigan Wolverines (15-6, 8-1) on Fri., April 20 at 3 p.m. The match will feature a special Senior Night ceremony for the three seniors on Penn State's roster: Nina Sertic (Zagrab, Croatia), Fernanda Perrotta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Kristen Roth (Ardmore, Pa.). The match kicks off a variety of events being held for Blue White Weekend and will feature free pizza for all fans in attendance.
Penn State is coming off of two losses this past weekend to tough opponents. The Nittany Lions fell to No. 11 Northwestern, 6-1, on Saturday, and were bested by No. 23 Illinois, 5-2, on Sunday. Fernanda Perrotta secured the only point for the Nittany Lions on Saturday, defeating No. 62 Brittany Wowchuk, 6-4, 3-6, 1-0. The victory marked the first over a ranked opponent in Perrotta's career. Against the Illini, Chelsea Utting and Nina Sertic tallied the points for Penn State.
Ronni Bernstein enters her fifth season at the helm of the Wolverines. The head coach has brought great success to the program, compiling a 38-2 record in Big Ten play during that span, on the way to back-to-back Big Ten titles in 2010 and 2011. During those two years Bernstein was named Big Ten Coach of the Year both times. Michigan has won eight of its last nine matches and the Wolverines only losses this season have come to opponents ranked in the ITA Top 20.
Michigan enters the match with three players ranked in singles action: No. 13 Emina Bektas, No. 73 Brooke Bolender and No. 108 Mimi Ngyuyen. Bektas has tallied a 15-4 record in the No. 1 position this spring, with her only losses coming to ranked opponents. In doubles play, Bektas teams with Bolender. The duo is ranked eighth in the country thanks to a 17-3 record.
Michigan holds an advantage in the all-time series record, boasting a 5-20 lead. The Nittany Lions have not defeated the Wolverines since the spring of 2001.
The Nittany Lions will wrap up their regular season on Sunday when they travel to East Lansing to take on Michigan State at 11 a.m. After that, Penn State will travel to Columbus, Ohio on Thurs., April 26 to compete in the Big Ten Championships.
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!