March 5, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lions (9-1, 0-1) moved up one spot to No. 34 in this week's ITA Rankings released today.
The Nittany Lions moved up in the rankings for the second week in a row and have yet to fall in the rankings this season. Despite the tough 5-2 loss in their conference opener on Sunday against then No. 55 Ohio State, Penn State was still able to gain ground in the poll with their impressive 9-1 record.
The Nittany Lions started off their season with nine straight victories and were the final Big Ten Conference team to lose a match this season. The hot start has allowed the Nittany Lions to jump 16 spots from where they began the season at No. 50 in the nation.
Penn State is getting ready to enter the heart of their schedule with conference play starting up. They will face their last non-conference opponent this week when they head to South Carolina to take on No. 61 College of Charleston who moved up 11 spots from last week.
It will be no easy test this season with the Big Ten Conference having seven teams in the current poll. Northwestern tops the bunch moving up a spot to No. 7 with Michigan, coming off their victory over No. 2 Duke, coming in at No. 8.
Following their match with College of Charleston on Saturday at 2 p.m., the Nittany Lions will head to Bloomington in search of their first conference win of the season against Indiana. That match is set for 5 p.m. on Friday March 22.