Jan. 19, 2013
Stow, Ohio - The No. 50 Nittany Lions began their spring season with a 5-2 victory over the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee Saturday in Akron.
The Nittany Lions started the match with a sweep in the doubles competition. Petra Januskova and Chelsea Utting defeated Carla Nava and Yuiri Nomoto 8-1 in the No. 1 doubles match, while Carmen Sandor and Sarah Henderson topped Flavia Nagayama and Alexandra Torres in the third spot to give Penn State the doubles point. The freshman pairing of Jacqueline Zuhse and Katherine Whiteaway also came away victorious taking down Nayara Moraes and Irina Constantinide 8-6 in the second slot.
No. 27 Januskova took on Nomoto in the No. 1 doubles match, winning 6-2, 6-3. Utting followed with victory of her own in the second slot defeating Constantinide 6-2, 6-1.
Devan McCluskey defeated Carla Nava 6-2, 6-3 in the fourth spot and Henderson bested Torres 6-1, 6-0 in the sixth singles match for the fourth and fifth points for Penn State.
Middle Tennessee earned their two points in the third singles match where Nagayama topped Sandor 6-2, 6-2 and in the No. 5 singles spot where Whiteaway was knocked off by Nayara Moraes 6-1, 6-4.
Zuhse also competed in an exhibition singles match where she defeated Taylor Mathews 6-0, 6-0.
The win gives Penn State a 2-1 edge in the series history. The Nittany Lions have won the last two after losing in their first meeting back in 2005.
This is the Nittany Lions first win in a season-opener since defeating Bucknell 6-1 at home in 2010. This is the first time winning a season opener on the road in at least 11 years.
The Nittany Lions will be back on the courts again tomorrow to face Akron looking to bring back a 2-0 record to University Park for their home-opener next Saturday against Temple. Their match with the Zips will begin at 10 a.m.
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