March 7, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 34 Nittany Lions (9-1, 0-1) will look to rebound off their first loss of the season when they travel to South Carolina to face No. 61 College of Charleston in their final non-conference match of the season. The match is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Penn State's great start to the season has been a team effort. In singles Petra Januskova, Chelsea Utting and Jacqueline Zuhse all have only dropped one match all season combining for a 26-3 record. The Nittany Lions as a team in singles have a win percentage of .717 (43-17) and are .500 or better in each singles position.
Despite being topped 2-1 in their previous two doubles events, the Nittany Lions have looked strong in this aspect as well winning seven of the 10 doubles points this season. They accumulated an 18-10 record with Carmen Sandor, Januskova and Utting leading the way at 7-2. The Nittany Lions are 18-10 (.643) as a team in doubles play this spring with impressive 7-2 records at both the No. 1 and No. 3 positions.
In their final out-of-conference match of the season the Nittany Lions are faced with the challenge of No. 61 College of Charleston on the road. The Cougars are 5-4 on the season and are coming off a 5-2 loss at the hands of North Florida on Tuesday. Penn State will close out the Cougars double-header on Saturday with the College of Charleston playing host to Jacksonville State at 9:30 a.m.
Three of the Cougars four losses this season have come against teams currently ranked in the ITA Rankings. They dropped a 7-0 defeat to No. 35 South Carolina, a 6-1 defeat to No. 33 North Carolina State as well as falling to No. 60 Wyoming, 4-1.
Senior Christin Newman heads the Cougars with her 5-2 record in the No. 1 singles spot while freshman Brooke McAmis has attained a 4-2 record in singles play thus far this season. Despite their success this season, College of Charleston has struggled in double play this season with their 10-15 record. The Cougars are 1-7 in the No. 1 doubles position and follow that up with a 3-5 record in the No. 2 spot. The Cougars have found success in the final doubles position where they've used five different duos to amass a 6-3 record.
The Nittany Lions and Cougars have met only once previously with the Nittany Lions getting the victory in the spring of 1990. Penn State went 19-3 that season with Jan Bortner at the helm en route to their sixth Atlantic 10 Championship. The Nittany Lions followed that conference championship up with another in 1991, their last season before moving to the Big Ten Conference.
Following their match with the Cougars at 2 p.m. Saturday, the Nittany Lions will have a weekend off before traveling to Indiana to resume Big Ten play. The match with the Hoosiers is slated for a 5 p.m. start on Friday March 22.