April 11, 2015
LINCOLN, NEB. - The Penn State women's tennis team started off their final road trip of the regular season on a positive note after the Nittany Lions pulled out a 4-3 over Nebraska Friday night. The win was the blue and white's sixth in a row, the longest win streak since the Nittany Lions started the 2012-13 season with nine consecutive victories.
"Our team won a tough match today," said head coach Chris Cagle. "I give Nebraska a lot of credit for how hard they competed."
After splitting the first two sets with Lisa Andersson 6-2 and 6-7(3), Devan McCluskey (Phoenix, Ariz.) battled back from a 0-3 third set hole to comeback and clinched the match with her 6-3 victory. Kim Surin (Montreal, Canada) earned the first singles victory for Penn State with her 6-2, 6-4 victory over Mary Hanna.
Dasha Sapogova (Minsk, Belarus) recorded a straight sets victory over her counterpart, Katerina Matysova, 6-1, 7-5. Both Katia Blik (Moscow, Russia) and Jacqueline Zuhse (Boca Raton, Fla.) took their opponents to three sets before falling to Maggy Lehmicke and Mackenna Maddox, respectively. Victoria Kisialeva (Toronto, Canada) split the first two sets with Izabella Zgierska before Zgierska won the final set 7-6(2).
The Nittany Lions won the doubles point for the third straight match as the blue and white captured two of the three doubles matches. Blik and Kisialeva moved to 2-0 as a duo after their 8-3 victory over Izabella Zgierska and Mary Hanna. Katherine Whiteaway (Sawbridgeworth, England) and Zuhse moved to 4-4 in conference play after the pair defeated Katerina Matysova and Mackenna Maddox 8-3. McCluskey and Surin fell to Maggy Lehmicke and Lisa Andersson 7-2.
"We won by a collective effort in both singles and doubles. Devan [McCluskey] coming back from 0-3 in the third set was huge," said Cagle. "But at the same time, she had Jackie [Zuhse] and Victoria [Kisialeva] fighting in third sets as well. We won some close matches and lost some close matches, but collectively as a team we won today!"
The Nittany Lions return to action Sunday as the blue and white take on the Iowa Hawkeyes for a noon match. Live stats are available by clicking on the link in the schedule. Follow Penn State on social media by `liking' our Facebook page at Penn State Women's Tennis and following our twitter account @pennstateWTEN.
Singles Results:
1) Maggy Lehmicke (NEB) def. Katia Blik 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
2) Izabella Zgierska (NEB) def. Victoria Kisialeva 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(2)
3) Kim Surin def. Mary Hannah (NEB) 6-2, 6-4
4) Dasha Sapogova def. Katerina Matysova (NEB) 6-1, 7-5
5) Devan McCluskey def. Lisa Andersson (NEB) 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-3
6) Mackenna Maddox (NEB) def. Jacqueline Zuhse 4-6, 6-4, 4-6
Doubles Results:
1) Blik/Kisialeva def. Zgierska/Hanna (NEB) 8-3
2) Lehmicke/Andersson (NEB) def. McCluskey/Surin 8-2
3) Whiteaway/Zuhse def. Matysova/Maddox (NEB) 8-3