March 11, 2015
MEMPHIS, Tenn.- The Penn State women's tennis team rallied from an early deficit to record their second win in a row as the Nittany Lions defeated Memphis 4-3 Wednesday. Victoria Kisialeva (Toronto, Canada) clinched the victory for the blue and white with her 6-4, 7-6(1) victory over Liza Tymchenko.
"I want to give credit to our team for fighting hard after a tough doubles point," said head coach Chris Cagle. "This win was a lot like how our wins are going to come this season. We will have a number of different players contribute to victory."
Kim Surin (Montreal, Canada) put the Nittany Lions on the board with her 6-0, 6-2 victory over Marta Morga. Both Dasha Sapogova (Minsk, Belarus) and Samantha Tutelman (New York, N.Y.) won in straight sets over Kathryn Hughes and Tara McElroy, respectively.
Memphis jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as they won two of the three doubles matches. Jacqueline Zuhse (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Katherine Whiteaway (Sawbridgeworth, England) dominated Alyssa Hibberd and Tara McElroy in their 6-0 victory. Surin and McCluskey fell to Liza Tymchenko and Marta Morga 6-4. The match came down to the first doubles court as Anki Wind and Kathryn Hughes defeated the 65th ranked Kisialeva and Sapogova 11-9 in a tiebreaker to win the match 7-6.
"We have progressed as a team in singles play from the beginning of the season," said assistant coach Mike Fenwick. "We have a full and healthy roster and we showed resilience after dropping the doubles point. We showed that although we didn't win the doubles point, we can still with a match with our singles play."
The Nittany Lions will stay on the road as the blue and white will travel to No. 19 Ohio State on March 14 for a noon match.
"Ohio State is a tough team and going to be a challenge, but we have seen challenges before," said Fenwick. We are going to need to step up in full force Saturday."
Penn State will stay on the road to battle No. 43 Maryland and Rutgers before returning home the last weekend in March. Follow Penn State women's tennis on social media by `liking' our Facebook page at Penn State Women's Tennis and following us on Twitter @pennstateWTEN.
Singles Results: (Order of Finish: 3, 6, 5, 4, 2, 1)
1) Anki Wind (UM) def. Blik 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4
2) Kisialeva def. Liza Tymchenko (UM) 6-4, 7-6(1)
3) Kim Surin def. Marta Morga (UM) 6-0, 6-2
4) Sapogova def. Kathryn Hughes (UM) 7-6(5), 6-2
5) Alyssa Hibberd (UM) def. McCluskey 6-3, 6-3
6) Sam Tutelman def. Tara McElroy (UM) 6-1, 6-1
Doubles Results: (Oder of Finish: 3, 2, 1)
1) Anki Wind/Kathryn Hughes (UM) def. No. 65 Kisialeva/Sapogova 7-6(11-9)
2) Liza Tymchenko/Marta Morga (UM) def. Surin/McCluskey 6-4
3) Zuhse/Whiteaway def. Alyssa Hibberd/Tara McElroy (UM) 6-0