Feb. 8, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lions (4-0, 0-0) will play host to the Monarchs of Old Dominion when they come to town Sunday. Start time for the match at Sarni Indoor Tennis Center is 11 a.m.
Penn State is coming off a comeback victory over Kentucky in Lexington last weekend where the won 4-3. After dropping the doubles point for the first time this season, the Nittany Lions won four of the six singles matches. With the match tied at three, Carmen Sandor topped No. 117 Caitlin McGraw in the third set to win the match for Penn State.
Old Dominion is coming off of three matches last weekend where the dropped the first two to TCU and North Texas respectively before ending the weekend with a victory over Texas-Arlington. The Monarchs are 5-2, having only played two games on the road thus far this season.
The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series with Old Dominion 9-5, and won the last meeting between the two in 2004, 5-2. Penn State won the doubles point as well as four of the six singles matches that day giving them the win.
The Monarchs are led by senior Diana Ivanova and freshmen Nikol Hristova and Ivana Vukovic. The doubles duo of Diana Ivanova and Aleksandra Mitrovska are the No. 10 ranked duo in the region. Penn State's duo of Petra Januskova and Chelsea Utting are No. 4 in the region.
In the fall Devan McCluskey defeated the Ivanova in singles and teamed with Katherine Whiteaway to knock off their duo of Melissa Ensal Olguin and Ivana Vukovic. Carmen Sandor also squared off against a Monarch in the fall, defeating Nika Khmolovska in singles play.
Following this weekend's match the Nittany Lions will travel to Huntington, West Virginia for a pair of matches against Winthrop and Marshall. Both matches are slated for an 11 a.m. start.