March 22, 2013
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 37 Nittany Lions (11-1, 1-1) outlasted the No. 38 Indiana Hoosiers (11-5, 0-2) Friday night in Bloomington winning 4-3 for their first conference win of the season.
"The team played well, it came down to Petra's match and she took care of business," assistant coach Mike Fenwick said. "We played a tough Indiana team on the road and were happy to come away with a win."
With the match tied at three a piece, the victory-clinching point came down to the No. 1 singles match between Petra Januskova and Leslie Hureau. The match lasted over three hours with Januskova clinching the victory in the tiebreaker, winning 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
"This match was big for us, especially since it's the start of our Big Ten play here on out," Januskova said. "Hureau was very good at stepping up when I was leading throughout the match. The third set was tight but the girls were right there cheering me on and it felt unreal when I finally clinched the match."
Penn State started the match winning the doubles point for the ninth time in 12 matches this spring. They took wins in both the No. 1 and 2 spots. Indiana took the first doubles match of the night when Shannon Murdy and Carolyn Chupa knocked off Jacqueline Zuhse and Sarah Henderson 8-1.
The nationally ranked duo of Januskova and Chelsea Utting won their first match since entering the rankings at No. 57 two weeks ago. They knocked off the Hoosiers top duo of Leslie Hureau and Jithmie Jayawickrema 8-4 in the No. 1 position.
With the doubles point coming down to the No. 2 doubles match, Carmen Sandor and Devan McCluskey brought home the win defeating Sophie Garre and Alecia Kauss 8-5. This was their third win on the season when the doubles point came down to their match and their first time playing in the No. 2 spot together.
"Devan and I learned a lot from our Ohio State match and we look to get better at every practice," said Sandor. "In the end the main difference was our confidence and the level of preparation we had."
With the doubles point in the bag the Nittany Lions looked to take their momentum into the singles competition. After Indiana quickly tied the match at 1 when Kauss topped McCluskey 6-0, 6-2 in the No. 4 spot, Utting quickly put the Nittany Lions back in front winning in the No. 2 position 6-4, 6-4. The victory was her 11th singles victory on the season putting her in a tie for fifth-most in the Big Ten along with her teammate, Januskova.
Indiana stormed back winning the next two matches almost simultaneously when Chupa bested Zuhse 6-2, 6-3 and Garre defeating Sandor 6-1, 6-4. With a 3-2 lead in favor of the Hoosiers, Marie-Frederique Bedard evened the match up for the final time winning 7-6, 6-2. The win was Bedard's second in as many matches this spring. The win kept the match alive and sent the match-clinching point to the No. 1 singles match where Januskova capped off the victory.
"The atmosphere was so exciting. We lost to Indiana last year so we really wanted to win," Sandor said. "We all have a ton of confidence in Petra and the way she competes."
The Nittany Lions will head to West Lafayette where they will face the No. 21 Purdue Boilermakers (11-1, 2-0) on Sunday at 11 a.m. The Boilermakers defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes earlier today 5-2 in conference play.
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