UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa -
The Penn State women's tennis team (8-11, 4-5) fell to No. 48 Illinois (13-7, 7-2) 5-2. Penn State honored their seniors, Katherine Whiteaway (Sawbridgeworth, England), Kim Surin (Montreal, Canada), Emily Rivers (Washington, D.C.), and Victoria Kisialeva (Toronto, Canada) before the start of singles play.
Penn State secured the doubles point over Illinois and put up a strong fight in singles action. The Nittany Lions look ahead to their last two matches of the spring season in Indiana next weekend.
"Today is the day that we honored our four seniors and I am so appreciative of everything they brought to the program," said head coach Chris Cagle, "We had our shots at a number of spots but Illinois just played a little bit better than we did in singles. Now we need to prepare to hit the road and take on Purdue and Indiana next weekend."
In singles action, Whiteaway was swept by Daniela Pedraza Novak at No. 6 and Jacqueline Zuhse (Boca Raton, Fla.) followed with a 6-0, 6-1 defeat by Jaclyn Switkes. At No. 3 Devan McCluskey (Phoenix, Ariz.) fell to Madie Baillon 6-1, 6-3. Dasha Sapogova (Belarus, Minsk) secured a point for Penn State at No. 5 6-2, 7-5. Surin put up a fight against No. 113 Louise Kwong but was defeated 7-5, 6-4. At No. 2 Katia Blik fell after a three set battle against Ines Vias, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
During doubles play, Whiteaway and McCluskey clinched their match at No. 2 and the doubles point for Penn State. Surin and Zuhse fell to No. 40 Louise Kwong and Ines Vias 6-1. Blik and Samantha Tutelman (Boca Raton, Fla.) defeated Daniela Pedraza Novak and Jaclyn Switkes 6-2.
Next, the Nittany Lions will travel to Indiana to take on Purdue Friday, April 22 at 2 p.m. and Indiana on Sunday, April 24 at 12 p.m. Fans are encouraged to follow the Penn State women's tennis team on twitter @PennStateWTEN and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PennStateWTEN.