March 9, 2013
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Nittany Lions (10-1, 0-1) charged past No. 61 College of Charleston (6-5, 1-0) Saturday afternoon winning 5-2 in their last non-conference game of the season.
"The team did a great job fighting for every last point today," assistant coach Mike Fenwick said. "It was our first match of the season played outdoors and we handled it well. The team embraced the change and were able to leave with the victory."
The Nittany Lions got off to a better start than they had in their previous two matches securing the doubles point to begin the match. Several changes in the lineup gave the Nittany Lions a new look for their opponents. The Cougars went up 1-0 in the doubles competition after Christin Newman and Brooke McAmis took down Petra Januskova and Devan McCluskey in the No. 3 position. It was the first time these two Nittany Lions teamed together this spring. They went 2-1 together in the fall at the Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational in Texas.
The Nittany Lions stepped up and overcame the 1-0 deficit winning both of the remaining matches. Chelsea Utting and Carmen Sandor, teaming up for the first time this season, were victorious in their match over Irene Viana and Katherine Schofield 8-5 in the No. 1 position. Although this was their first time together this year the two played in eight matches as a duo last season going 5-3. The Nittany Lions took a 1-0 lead in the match when Jacqueline Zuhse and Sarah Henderson, also teaming for the first time this spring, topped the Cougars team of Samantha Maddox and Jenny Falcone 8-6. Henderson remains undefeated in doubles play this spring with the victory moving to 3-0 on the season.
With a 1-0 lead heading into doubles the Nittany Lions quickly added on to their lead. Marie-Frederique Bedard quickly gave Penn State a 2-0 lead in the match when she knocked off Katherine Schofield 6-4, 6-3 in her first singles match of the season. Devan McCluskey, ranked No. 18 in the region, also wasted no time in her match putting the Nittany Lions ahead 3-0 when she knocked off Samantha Maddox 6-2, 6-2.
No. 47 Januskova clinched the victory for the Nittany Lions when she overcame the Cougars' Newman 6-4, 6-0. Januskova moves to 10-1 on the season in singles matches. After dropping her second set, Utting defeated Kelly Kambourelis after Kambourelis retired in the third set, 7-6, 2-6, 2-0 to join Januskova with the team lead in singles with her 10-1 record. The win gave the Nittany Lions a 5-0 lead in the match.
The Cougars earned their two points with wins in the final two matches. After winning the first set, Sandor wasn't able to hold off Jenny Falcone, losing the match 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. Zuhse forced a third set at the No. 3 position after wining the second set but McAmis fought back to win the match 6-2, 3-6, 7-6. The win comes at an important time for the Nittany Lions who were coming off their first loss of the season and have two weeks off until they get back into conference play when they travel to Indiana for their match on March 22 at 5 p.m.
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