April 26, 2012
Columbus, Ohio - The No. 50 Penn State women's tennis team (12-11, 4-8) concluded its season with a 4-2 loss to the No. 63 Ohio State Buckeyes (10-15, 5-7) in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Nittany Lions were seeded No. 8 in the field, while the host Buckeyes were No. 9. Penn State won the doubles point and Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) tallied a singles victory for the Nittany Lions.
The Nittany Lions jumped out to an early, 1-0, lead by claiming the doubles point. Both of Penn State's two doubles victories were in highly contested matches. Ohio State took the first match, as Fidan Manashirova and Gabby Steele overpowered Nina Sertic (Zagrab, Croatia) and Marie-Frederique Bedard (Montreal, Canada), 8-1, in the No. 2 bout.
However, Penn State fought back in the next two to claim the point. Januskova and Chelsea Utting (Peachtree City, Ga.) rallied to defeat Kara Cecil and Kelsey Dieters, 8-6, in the No. 1 match. In the number three dual, Fernanda Perrotta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Carmen Sandor (Toronto, Canada) bested Kelsey Haviland and Noelle Malley, also 8-6.
In singles action, Ohio State took the lead right back as Steele upended Bedard in the number five match, 6-1, 6-2, and Perrotta lost to Manashirova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
No. 76 Januskova continued to prove why she is the No. 1 singles player for the Nittany Lions as she inched past Haviland 6-4, in the first match and then dominated the Buckeye, 6-0, in the second to tie the score at 2-2.
The last three matches proved to be extremely equal competition. On court two, Utting easily won the first set against Cecil, 6-1, but fell in the next two, 4-6, 3-6. In the No. 6 slot, Sertic lost the first set, 3-6, but bounced back in the second, 6-3, however she could not pull out the victory, as she lost the third, 3-6. With that victory, Ohio State secured the victory to move on to the second round.
Because the match was already decided, Sandor did not get to finish her match against Dieters in the No. 4 bout. The match was suspended with Sandor leading, 4-6, 6-3, 5-4.
OSU will move on to face No. 1 Northwestern tomorrow at 10 a.m.
The rest of the Big Ten Tournament can be followed at http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/w-tennis/spec-rel/bigten-champ-2012.html. Additionally, the Big Ten Network will air the championship match on tape delay on Wednesday, May 9 at 6 p.m. ET.
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