April 15, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- The Penn State women's tennis team will close out the regular season with two home matches against ranked conference opponents this weekend. The blue and white welcome No. 50 Michigan State for a 4:00 p.m. match on April 17. The Nittany Lions conclude the regular season on Sunday, April 19 as the No. 14 Michigan Wolverines come to town for an 11:00 a.m. match.
Scouting Michigan State
The Spartans enter Friday's match with a 16-6 record on the season, including a 5-4 record in the Big Ten. The green and white are currently riding a four-match losing streak, their longest of the season. Erin Faulkner, who is 13-8 from the first singles position, leads Michigan State in singles. Faulkner has dropped her last three matches. Lexi Baylis owns a 16-4 singles record, going 12-4 from the second singles position and 4-0 from the third. As a team, Michigan State is 82-47 in singles play while going just 25-21 in doubles during the spring season. Allie Baer and Catherine Parenteau are 7-3 from the second doubles position.
Scouting Michigan
The Wolverines (19-3, 9-0) are currently on a 13-match win streak with their last loss coming in late February to then No. 1 North Carolina. The maize and blue will take on Ohio State Friday, who is the only other undefeated team in Big Ten play. Michigan has three singles players in the ITA rankings. Emina Bektas is ranked No. 23 and as of April 6, owns a 12-2 record in the first singles position. Ronit Yurovsky is 11-0 from the second singles position and is ranked 31st. Sarah Lee posted a 14-4 record and is ranked No. 108. The doubles tandem of Emina Bektas and Alex Najarian own the 18th ranking, as the pair is 14-4 from the first doubles position. Ronit Yurovsky and Sarah Lee are 15-3 from the second doubles position and are ranked No. 69.
Penn State In the Rankings
The Nittany Lions bumped up 12 spots in the newest ITA rankings this week as the blue and white are now ranked No. 52. This marks the fourth straight week Penn State has found themselves in the rankings.
Coming Up B1G
Penn State enters the weekend with a 7-2 record in the Big Ten, tied for third in the conference with No. 27 Northwestern. The blue and white have now tallied six straight conference victories, capped off with their road sweep of Nebraska and Iowa this past weekend. Dasha Sapogova (Minsk, Belarus) leads the team with eight conference singles victories while Kim Surin (Montreal, Canada) is 7-2 against Big Ten opponents. Katherine Whiteaway (Sawbridgeworth, England) and Jacqueline Zuhse (Boca Raton, Fla.) own a team high five doubles wins over Big Ten foes.
Pink Zone
Friday's match will be the "Pink Zone" match as the team will be wearing pink attire throughout the match. During the match, there will be Pink Zone merchandise available for purchase.
Senior Day
Sunday's final home match will also be Senior Day. Both Melissa Minniti (Gaithersburg, Md.) and Lisa Petruzillo (Muttontown, N.Y.) will be honored during the intermission in-between the singles and doubles play.
Live Stats
There will be live stats for both matches and can be followed by clicking on the link above or clicking the "Live Stats" link on the schedule page under each match.
Looking Ahead
The regular season will conclude on Sunday and the Big Ten Championships will begin next week. The Big Ten Championships will begin on Thursday, April 23 and carry through the weekend in Evanston, Ill. Follow Penn State on social media by `liking' our Facebook page at Penn State Women's Tennis and following our twitter account @pennstateWTEN.