April 17, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
The No. 43 Penn State women's tennis team (13-6, 3-6) head to Ann Arbor where they will face the No. 6 Michigan Wolverines (17-4, 8-1) on Friday at 3 p.m. before closing out their regular season at home on Sunday against Michigan State (10-14, 0-9) at 11 a.m.
LAST TIME OUT
The Nittany Lions were defeated in two tough matches at home over the weekend. On Saturday after No. 49 Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) and Chelsea Utting (Peachtree City, Georgia) knocked off the No. 9 duo in the nation to even the doubles contest the Nittany Lions could not win the deciding match and secure the doubles point. In singles the Nittany Lions took the matches at No. 1 and No. 2 against ranked No. 106 Veronica Corning and No. 55 Kate Turvey respectively but were unsuccessful in the upset attempt falling in the remaining four matches losing the match 5-2. On Sunday the Nittany Lions fell victim to the Fighting Illini also losing 5-2. The Nittany Lions once again won both matches featuring ranked opponents including Januskova and Utting's doubles win against No. 27 Melissa Kopinski and Rachael White but were unable to take the doubles point and come from behind in singles to secure the victory.
IN THE RANKINGS
Following the two losses the Nittany Lions dropped five spots to No. 43 in the rankings this week. Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) enters this week's singles poll at No. 60, following a weekend where she defeated both ranked opponents she faced. Januskova and Utting moved up 19 more spots to No. 30 in the doubles poll this week. The jump came following two singles victories coming against the No. 9 and No. 27 ranked doubles teams in the nation. It is the highest ranking the duo has secured in their careers.
BIG TEN ROUNDUP
The Big Ten feature eight teams in the ITA National Rankings this week with Michigan leading the way at No. 6. Nebraska follows them at the No. 14 spot and Northwestern stays put at No. 16. No. 27 Purdue and No. 34 Indiana stay ahead of Penn State in the polls after both swept Minnesota and Wisconsin over the weekend. Illinois moved up to No. 47 following an undefeated weekend with the win in University Park and in Columbus against Ohio State who stayed put at No. 62. Michigan's duo of Brooke Bolender and Emina Bektas fell one spot to No. 3 in the nation in the doubles poll and lead Patricia Veresova and Mary Weatherholt by only one spot this week. Weatherholt still leads the conference in singles coming in at No. 11, moving up three spots from last week.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
The Wolverines are tied atop the Big Ten with the Nebraska Cornhuskers, whom the defeated 5-2 last weekend at home. They sport an 8-1 conference record with their only blemish coming against Indiana on the final day in March. Their other three losses came to teams ranked in the top 15 in the nation, including two on the road. Michigan features a lineup containing three nationally ranked singles players and three nationally ranked doubles teams, with Brooke Bolender and Ronit Yurovsky each on two of the three. The pairing of Bolender and Emina Bektas is ranked No. 3 in the nation with Yurovski and Sarah Lee sitting at the No. 60 spot. Bolender and Yurovsky are No. 81 despite only playing in three matches together this season with a 2-1 record them. No. 26 Emina Bektas leads the Wolverines in singles with a 15-4 record in the No. 1 spot and 16-4 record overall. Ronit Yurovski is 14-3 and ranked No. 50 while Sarah Lee brings in a 15-6 and ranks No. 104 in the nation.
MICHIGAN-PENN STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Michigan Wolverines hold a 21-5 edge in the all-time series between the two conference opponents. Last season No. 14 Michigan knocked off Penn State in Happy Valley 5-2. The Nittany Lions last win against the Wolverines came in 2001.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
Michigan State enters the final weekend of the regular season looking for their first conference win of the season. After beginning the season 7-0 the Spartans have lost 11 of their last 14 matches. Eight of their losses have come to ranked teams with only two of those coming at home. The Spartans are 3-5 on the road this season . Marina Bohrer leads Sparty into State College with her 13-9 record at No. 1 on the season. Catherine Parenteau has an 8-10 record in singles on the season while Emily Meyers enters the weekend with a two match win-streak and 11 wins on the season. Michigan State brings a .531 doubles winning percentage to Happy Valley with an impressive 15-6 (.714) record at No. 3.
MICHIGAN STATE-PENN STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series with the Spartans 15-10. Penn State has won both of the last meetings 4-3. Michigan State's last victory came in 2010 In East Lansing. The last time the Spartans defeated Penn State in University Park was in 1999.
UP NEXT
After the conclusion of the regular season this weekend the Nittany Lions will head back out to Bloomington, Ind. for the second time of the season where they will compete in the Big Ten Championship. The first round will begin on Thursday, April 25 at the Varsity Tennis Courts with two matches at 10 a.m. and two more at 2 p.m. The four winners will face the top four seeds on Friday with the winners moving on into semifinals on Saturday and the tournament concluding at noon on Sunday. For full tournament information click here