March 28, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lions (4-11, 0-3 Big Ten) visit Illinois for a pair of matches over the weekend against No. 37 Illinois (8-6, 1-2 Big Ten) and No. 11 Northwestern (9-4, 3-0 Big Ten). They are slated to face the Fighting Illini on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET at the Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill. before heading to Evanston the following day for a meeting with the Wildcats at 12 p.m. ET in the Combe Tennis Center.
LAST TIME OUT
The Nittany Lions were shutout over the weekend by Michigan State and Michigan. In their match with the Spartans, Katia Blik (Moscow, Russia) and Taylor Shukow (Boca Raton, Fla.) remained undefeated together earning the Nittany Lions only victory in the match to even up the doubles competition at one match a piece. Michigan State was able to sneak by Carmen Sandor (Toronto, Canada) and Katherine Whiteaway (Sawbridgeworth, England) in the No. 2 match, 8-7, to clinch the first point for the Spartans. Penn State was unable to get anything going from there on, falling in all six singles matches against their Land Grant rivals.
Penn State returned home on Sunday to face the No. 15 Michigan Wolverines but their winning efforts were thwarted, dropping all six finished matches and losing 7-0. In singles only four matches went the distance with two Nittany Lions retiring from injury in the first sets of their matches at No. 4 and No. 5.
PENN STATE NOTES
- Dasha Sapogova (Minsk, Belarus) leads the team with 10 singles victories on the spring.
- Marie-Frederique Bedard (Montreal, Canada) leads the team with five wins in doubles play this spring.
- Penn State enters the match with a 34-56 (.378) record in singles and 12-23 (.343) record in doubles.
- The freshmen have combined for 18 of the 34 wins (53%) in singles for the Nittany Lions this season.
- Penn State has a 3-1 record when clinching the doubles point, and a 1-10 record when their opponent takes the doubles point.
- The Nittany Lions have a winning record at No. 3 singles this spring with a 10-5 record.
SCOUTING ILLINOIS
The Fighting Illini are coming off of a pair of wins last weekend at home against Southern Illinois and Indiana. Their win over a ranked Hoosiers team was their first conference win on the season after dropping their previous two against Northwestern and Purdue teams ranked in the top 40 in the ITA Poll.
Illinois enters the weekend with a 4-5 record against teams ranked in the ITA Team Rankings and moved up to 15 spots in the rankings following their win against Indiana. The Illini have moved their lineups around for much of the spring having three different players play at all six singles positions. Freshman Casati leads Illinois with an 11-2 record in singles playing primarily at the No. 3 spot with wins also coming at No. 1 and 2. Melisa Kopinski has compiled a 7-6 record in doubles so far this season coming off of last season's success where she tallied 28 doubles victories and advanced to the NCAA Doubles Quarterfinals with Rachael White. Louise Kwong has also been a positive for the Fighting Illini this season collecting a 9-4 record in singles and 7-4 record in doubles.
PENN STATE-ILLINOIS SERIES HISTORY
Illinois holds the all-time edge in the series having taken 21 of the 23 meetings between the two teams. The Fighting Illini won last season's matchup 5-2, winning four of six in singles. Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada) and Bedard earned the Nittany Lions victories with Januskova knocking off Kopinski who was ranked No. 117 in the nation at the time. Bedard lost her first set 6-0 but came back to win her final two sets 6-1, 6-2 to clinch the victory at No. 6 singles. The Nittany Lions last win against Illinois came on the road in 2007 when they won 4-3.
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN
The Wildcats have lost two straight following a four-game win streak with all four wins coming against teams ranked in the top 40 in the nation. All 14 matches for Northwestern so far this season have come against ranked competition with their four losses coming against teams ranked in the top 20 of the ITA Team Poll. Their previous two losses have come on the road against No. 10 North Carolina and No. 1 Duke.
The Wildcats feature five players with a .500 record or better on the spring entering the weekend. Nida Hamilton possesses a perfect 7-0 record, while Belinda Niu is 9-1 playing at No. 2 singles and Veronica Corning is 8-5 at No. 1. Niu comes in at No. 36 in the singles poll this week while Corning follows right behind taking over the No. 44 spot. In doubles Corning and Alicia Barnett are ranked 21st in the nation with a 16-6 record on the season including a 6-4 split in the spring. Maddie Lipp and Hamilton close out the rankings for the Wildcats coming in at No. 72 in this week's doubles poll, posting 13-7 record together with a 6-5 record in the spring.
PENN STATE-NORTHWESTERN SERIES HISTORY
The Nittany Lions are looking for their first win ever against Northwestern having lost all 25 previous matchups. Despite Chelsea Utting (Peachtree City, Ga.) and Januskova knocking off the No. 9 duo in the nation and winning both of their singles matches against ranked opponents the Wildcats were able to fend off Penn State, winning 5-2. Utting defeated No. 55 Kate Turvy and Januskova defeated No. 106 Veronica Corning.
UP NEXT
Penn State returns to Happy Valley to begin their final home stand of the season when they take on Wisconsin and Minnesota. Their match with the Badgers is set for Friday, April 4 at 4 p.m. and they will close out the weekend against the Golden Gophers on Sunday at 11 a.m. Depending on the weather the match will be played either at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center or the Sarni Tennis Center.