April 10, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa -- The Penn State women's tennis team (8-9, 4-3) won a close Big Ten victory over Iowa (10-12, 0-9) 4-3. The Nittany Lions look forward to hosting two Big Ten conference matches next weekend.
Penn State secured and early lead over Iowa after Devan McCluskey (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Kim Surin (Montreal, Canada) clinched the doubles point at No. 1. It was up to Jacqueline Zuhse (Boca Raton, Fla.) to secure the match win for Penn State. Zuhse answered with a 7-6(6), 6-1 victory at No. 4 against Annette Dohanics resulting in a 4-3 victory for the Nittany Lions.
"I am really proud of the composed team effort under pressure against an Iowa team that played great today against us," said head coach Chris Cagle, "Literally, the match was decided by only a few points and we had a collective team effort to get it done."
Katia Blik (Moscow, Russia) fell at No. 2 6-4, 6-2, and Surin answered with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over the Hawkeyes at No. 1. Dasha Sapogova (Belarus, Minsk) came out on top after a three set battle against Aimee Tarun, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1. Samantha Tutelman (Boca Raton, Fla.) fell against Adorabol Huckleby 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 in her three set match at No. 6. McCluskey was swept at No. 3 in a tough match against Kristen Thoms, leaving the match score at 3-3. Zuhse clinched the match for the team at No. 4 7-6(6), 6-1.
In doubles play, McCluskey and Surin secured the doubles point at No. 1 6-3. First, Zuhse and Whiteaway advanced over Annette Dohanics and Montana Crawford 6-3. Then, Blik and Tutelman fell at No. 2 against Aimee Tarun and Adorabol Huckleby 6-2.
Next, the Penn State women's tennis team will host Northwestern Friday, April 15 at 4:30 p.m. and Illinois Sunday, April 22 at 11 a.m. Fans are encouraged to follow the Penn State women's tennis team on twitter @PennStateWTEN and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PennStateWTEN.