March 29, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 30 Nittany Lions (12-2, 2-2) rolled past the No. 69 Hawkeyes (8-7, 1-3), 6-1, Friday night to remain unbeaten at home this season. The Nittany Lions won seven of the eight completed matches to defeat Iowa avenging their upset defeat in Iowa last season.
"I was proud of the way the team prepared all week," said head coach Dawna Denny. "It showed up on the court today."
The Nittany Lions got the match rolling in the doubles competition winning both of the completed matches. The 75th nationally-ranked duo of Petra Januskova and Chelsea Utting got off to a fast start and never looked back upsetting the nation's No. 34 ranked duo of Ruth Seaborne and Morven McCulloch, 8-2.
Marie-Frederique Bedard and Jacqueline Zuhse teamed together for the second time this season getting the win and clinching the doubles point for the Nittany Lions. They topped Caitlin Hindmarsh and Annette Dohanics, 8-2. The No. 2 doubles match was not completed following the match on court three with the score 6-2 in favor of Katie Zordani and Shelby Talcott against Carmen Sandor and Devan McCluskey.
Penn State quickly jumped ahead in singles play with No. 57 Januskova defeating No. 85 Seaborne 6-1, 6-0 for her 12th singles win of the season. Zuhse followed the victory with one of her own besting McCulloch 6-4, 6-2.
Chelsea Utting also won her 12th singles match of the season, knocking off Talcott 6-1, 6-3. The win clinched the victory for Penn State moving the score to 4-0. The Hawkeyes got on the scoreboard when Hindmarsh came from behind to defeat Bedard in the super breaker. She won the tight match, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 1-0 (11-9).
Penn State won the remaining matches. Sandor topped Zordani 7-5, 6-1 in the No. 5 match giving the Nittany Lions 5-1 lead. McCluskey ended the night winning her match against Christina Harazin 7-5, 7-5. The win is only the fourth for the Nittany Lions against the Hawkeyes in series history with the last one coming in 2009.
The Nittany Lions will be back in action Sunday when they host the No. 12 Nebraska Cornhuskers at 11 a.m. Prior to the match, the women's tennis team will host a clinic for Special Olympics athletes in Centre County on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
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