Sept. 18, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lions travel to Philadelphia this weekend to take part in the Cissie Leary Invitational for the second year in a row. The event is hosted by the University of Pennsylvania and will take place at the Hamlin Tennis Center.
The three-day tournament begins at 8 a.m. Friday morning with two rounds of doubles matches followed by two rounds of singles action. The tournament will consist of a 128 person singles draw where the first 32 players get a first round bye, and a 64 pair draw in doubles with first round byes given to the first 16 teams. In Friday and Saturday's singles matches they will play a super-tiebreaker in the 3rd set if necessary. In the doubles competition they will play eight game pro-sets.
For the second year in a row Penn State will be the lone representative from the Big Ten Conference at the Cissie Leary Invitational. They will compete in this year's field along with 12 other teams. Teams include Penn, Temple, Columbia, Cornell, Richmond, St. Johns, Bowdoin, Drexel, Delaware, Dartmouth, Yale, and Rhode Island.
Last year Petra Januskova took home the singles crown and placed second in the doubles competition with partner Nina Sertic. Fernanda Perrotta advanced to the semifinal of the consolation bracket also. Following this invitational, Januskova and Chelsea Utting will head to California to compete in the All-Americans beginning on September 29, while the rest of the team will have a week off from tournament play before heading to Williamsburg, Va., where they will compete in the Tribe Invitational starting on October 5.
Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State Women's Tennis at www.twitter.com/pennstateWTEN on twitter, and on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Penn-State-Womens-Tennis/196497960426174.