April 3, 2012
University Park, Pa. - Despite two losses this past weekend, the Penn State women's tennis team (10-6, 2-3) only fell one spot in the most recent ITA poll, released today. The Nittany Lions moved into No. 47, after occupying the 46th spot for two straight weeks.
This marks the eighth straight week Penn State has earned a ranking in the Top 75. Prior to this season, the Nittany Lions had not broken into the poll since 2008, when they came in at No. 75 during the week of Feb. 22, 2008.
The Nittany Lions have defeated four ranked opponents this season: then No. 57 Ohio State, No. 40 VCU, No. 65 Marshall and No. 27 Purdue. In previous weeks Penn State has held rankings of No. 46, No. 59, No. 61, No. 53 and No. 54.
Including the Nittany Lions, nine of the 12 schools in the highly competitive Big Ten were also ranked. Penn State joins eight other Big Ten schools in the poll, including No. 14 Northwestern, No. 15 Michigan, No. 17 Nebraska, No. 19 Illinois, No. 33 Minnesota, No. 34 Purdue, No. 45 Indiana and No. 72 Iowa. In total, 13 of Penn State's 22 opponents this season were ranked in this week's poll.
Penn State is coming off two losses this past weekend to two Big Ten foes, Iowa and No. 18 Nebraska. Despite the two losses, Nina Sertic (Zagrab, Croatia) had a stellar weekend, going 2-0 in No. 6 singles play. Additionally, Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) and Chelsea Utting (Peachtree City, Ga.) teamed up to win both of their doubles matches, including an 8-7 victory over No. 40 Madeleine Geibert and Stefanie Weinstein of Nebraska.
The Nittany Lions return home this weekend when they host No. 33 Minnesota on Fri., April 6 at 3:30 p.m. and Wisconsin on Sun., April 8 at 11 a.m. After that, Penn State will head to Illinois to take on No. 14 Northwestern on Sat., April 14 at 11 a.m. and No. 19 Illinois on Sun., April 15, also 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!