Feb. 23, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lions continued their hot start to the season knocking off West Virginia 5-2 at home Saturday afternoon.
With the win the Nittany Lions move to 8-0 on the season, their best start in at least two decades. Penn State got off to a fast start, a common occurrence for the Nittany Lions this season. For the seventh time in eight matches and the fourth consecutive match the Nittany Lions won the doubles point.
Petra Januskova and Chelsea Utting, the region's fourth-ranked duo, knocked off Hailey Barrett and Ikttesh Chahal 8-2 for the first victory of the match. West Virginia even the competition at one when Emily Mathis and Audrey Wooland topped Marie-Fredrique Bedard and Jacqueline Zuhse, 8-6. With the decisive point coming down to the No. 3 doubles match, Devan McCluskey and Carmen Sandor stepped up and sealed the point for the Nittany Lions winning 8-4. The pair improved to 5-0 together in doubles play on the season.
No. 36 Januskova improved to 7-1 on the season with her singles victory over Audrey Wooland. She won the match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. Zuhse followed that performance with a win of her own. She knocked off Mathis 6-2, 6-3 to remain undefeated in singles play this spring with a record of 7-0.
Chelsea Utting also stayed undefeated in singles play on the season winning 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 over Hailey Barrett. The win moves Utting to 8-0 on the season in singles matches. The win clinched the victory for the Nittany Lions giving them a 4-0 lead.
West Virginia won the next two matches to make the score 4-2. Ikttesh Chahal defeated McCluskey 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 and Vivian Tsui topped Carmen Sandor in the super breaker to win the match 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-7).
Sarah Henderson closed out the match for the Nittany Lions with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Irina Toidze. The win moves Henderson to 3-1 on the season in singles play and gave the Nittany Lions their fifth and final point of the match.
The Nittany Lions will be back in action tomorrow when they face No. 49 Virginia Commonwealth at noon in Sarni Indoor Tennis Center.
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