March 6, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- The Penn State women's tennis team opened their Big Ten home schedule by pulling off the upset over No. 37 Illinois Friday night 4-3. The victory was the Nittany Lion's third in four home matches this spring. This was the blue and white's second highest opponent they have defeated in program history, behind the upset over No. 27 Purdue back in 2012. "I am really happy for everyone on our team," said head coach Chris Cagle. "They kept fighting the whole time, came out very determined, and beat a very good Illinois team."
Kim Surin (Montreal, Canada) clinched the win for Penn State after her gritty, three set match victory over Louise Kwong. Surin dropped the first set 7-6(2), but then bounced back to win 6-2 in the second set and pull out a 7-5 victory in the third set to ensure the upset. "At the start of the doubles today, our energy was a lot higher than it has been in previous matches and I thought that really helped us to get into the match and we just kept going from there," said Surin.
Penn State tallied the first two singles victories as Dasha Sapogova (Minsk, Belarus) and Devan McCluskey (Phoenix, Ariz.) both recorded straight sets victories. Sapogova won 6-1, 6-4 while McCluskey's score was 6-3, 6-4.
The Nittany Lions jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as the doubles duo of Jackie Zuhse (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Katherine Whiteaway (Sawbridgeworth, England) clinched the victory for the blue and white with their 8-6 victory over Jerricka Boone and Jade Hilton. McCluskey and Surin won their tenth doubles match together after 8-3 victory over Alexis Casati and Madie Ballion. Kisialeva and Sapogova fell to Melissa Kopinski and Louise Kwong 8-5.
"Coach Fenwick and I knew we had a strong, talented team and what we have to do is to continue to bring that fight every match and then we are going to be in every match and have a chance to win every match. The main thing we have to do is to keep fighting, keep working hard, and the results will take care of themselves.
The Nittany Lions will hit the road for four straight road matches, starting with No. 73 Memphis March 11 with first serve coming at noon. Penn State then gets into the heart of their Big Ten schedule, traveling to No. 22 Ohio State, No. 48 Maryland, and Rutgers. The blue and white return home March 27 and 29 when they take on No. 42 Indiana and No. 29 Purdue. Follow the Nittany Lions on social media by `liking' our Facebook page at Penn State Women's Tennis and follow us on Twitter @pennstateWTEN.
Singles Results: (Order of Finish: 4, 5, 6, 2, 3, 1)
1) Alexis Casati (Ill.) def. Blik 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
2) Melissa Koponski (Ill.) def. Kisialeva 6-3, 6-0
3) Surin def. Louise Kwong (Ill.) 6-7(2), 6-2, 7-5
4) Sapogova def. Madie Baillon (Ill.) 6-1, 6-4
5) McCluskey def. Jade Hilton (Ill.) 6-3, 6-4
6) Jerricka Boone (Ill.) def. Tutelman 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Doubles Results: (Order of Finish: 2,1,3)
1) Melissa Kopinski/Louise Kwong (Ill.) def. #51 Kisialeva/Sapogova 8-5
2) McCluskey/Surin def. Alexis Casati/Madie Baillon (Ill.) 8-3
3) Zuhse/Whiteaway def. Jerricka Boone/Jade Hilton (Ill.) 8-6