Feb. 22, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- The Penn State women's tennis team closed out their two-match home stand with a 4-3 victory over the VCU Rams. Dasha Sapogova defeated Darya Berezhnaya in straight sets 6-1, 6-2. Katia Blik (Moscow, Russia) and Kim Surin (Montreal, Canada) both defeated their opponents in two sets as Blik defeated Salome Kvitashvili 7-5, 6-3 while Surin won 6-4, 6-3 over Olga Barsheuskaya.
Sam Tutelman (New York, N.Y.) clinched the match for the Nittany Lions with her 6-1, 6-2 victory over Alejandra de Lasa. "I was just trying to focus on myself and what I was trying to do in the moment and I knew the match was on the line, but I tried to block that out and just keep fighting to get the win," said Tutelman.
"We talked a lot as a team after Friday's loss and basically said how each of us has to keep pushing and keep fighting and I felt today was one of our best performances fighting all around," said Sam Tutelman.
VCU won two of the three doubles matches to take an early 1-0 lead. The Nittany Lions and Rams split the first two doubles matches as McCluskey and Surin fell while Blik and Katherine Whiteaway (Sawbridgeworth, England) battled back from a 7-4 deficit to take the match 8-7. The first doubles match went to a tiebreaking set, where Salome Kvitashvili and Olga Barsheuskaya won the tiebreaker 7-4.
Penn State heads on the road next weekend as the Nittany Lions play two matches in Huntington, West Virginia. The blue and white will take on Marshall Saturday, February 28 at 12:00 p.m. and Utah Sunday, March 1 at 11:00 a.m. Stay updated on the latest Penn State women's tennis news by following the Nittany Lions on social media. Check out the Facebook page at Penn State Women's Tennis and on Twitter @pennstateWTEN.
Singles Results: (Order of Finish: 4,1,3,2,5,6)
1) No. 49 Cindy Chala (VCU) def. Kisialeva 6-3, 6-0
2) Katia Blik def. Salome Kvitashvili (VCU) 7-5, 6-3
3) Surin def. Olga Barsheuskaya (VCU) 6-4, 6-3
4) Dasha Sapogova def. Darya Berezhnaya (VCU) 6-1, 6-2
5) Sam Tutelman def. Alejandra de Lasa (VCU) 6-1, 6-2
6) Ludivine Burguiere (VCU) def. McCluskey 6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (11-9)
Doubles Results: (Order of Finish: 2,3,1)
1) Kvitashvili/Barsheuskaya (VCU) def. Kisialeva/Sapogova 8-7(4)
2) Chala/Berezhnaya (VCU) def. McCluskey/Surin 8-2
3) Blik/Whiteaway def. Burguiere/Veverkova (VCU) 8-7(1)