March 26, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lions (11-2, 1-2) moved up seven spots in the rankings this week to No. 30. This is the highest ranking the Nittany Lions have achieved in at least two decades.
The Nittany Lions finished their non-conference schedule a perfect 10-0 with both losses on the season coming to ranked Big Ten opponents on the road.
The jump comes after two tough contests with conference opponents on the road this past weekend. They split the pair of matches knocking off Indiana before falling to Purdue.
On Friday night the Nittany Lions earned the tough victory over the No. 38 Hoosiers when Petra Januskova defeated Leslie Hureau in the No. 1 singles match which lasted more than three hours to give Penn State the close 4-3 win. The win came against a Hoosiers team that had just upset Duke, the No. 2 team in the nation. Penn State ended their weekend with a tough loss 7-0 loss to No. 21 Purdue, who climbed four spots to No. 17.
Januskova fell to No. 57 in the singles rankings this week following her outings against Indiana and Purdue. Januskova peaked in the rankings at No. 27 in the January 3 poll. Chelsea Utting and Januskova also find themselves in the doubles rankings for the second poll in a row. They come in at No. 75 this week following their doubles victory in Indiana and loss at Purdue. The duo's highest ranking came in the preseason when they reached the No. 42 spot in the poll.
The Nittany Lions return home this weekend to play a pair of conference opponents at Sarni Indoor Tennis Center. They'll play host Iowa on Friday at 6 p.m. and finsh their weekend against No. 12 Nebraska at 11 a.m. Sunday.