UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; October 1, 2016 ââ'¬" The Penn State women's tennis team completed its opening matches at the Penn Invitational. With rain showers in the Philadelphia area, matches were moved to indoor courts. Competition continues today and runs through Sunday, October 2.
All nine players who traveled to Philadelphia, Pa., competed in singles on Friday. Taylor Shukow (Boca Raton, Fla.) fell to Andrea Kevakian of Col 6-2,6-4. Bennett Dunn (Orlando, Fla.) lost to Caroline Williams of MD 6-4,6-4. Jacqueline Zuhse (Boca Raton, Fla.) fell to Katya Tour of MD 6-1, 6-1. Katia Blik (Moscow, Russia) lost against Amy Yang of Yale 6-4,6-4.
Several Nittany Lions picked up singles wins on the first day of the tournament. Devan McCluskey (Phoenix, Az.) was victorious defeating Rima Asatrian Col 6-4, 6-4. Dasha Sapogova (Belarus, Minsk) defeated Star Makarome of Col 6-1,6-2. Samantha Smith (Cary, N.C.) was victorious against Zofia Stanisz of SJ winning 6-1,6-3. Shannon Hanley (Kensington, Md.) won against Ryshena Providence of DX 7-6, (7-4), (6-2). Liyin Xu (Chengdu, China) defeated Ashby Bland of Col 6-2,7-5.
Head Coach Chris Cagle commented on the team's performance of the first day. "Friday was a long day of tennis with the rain at Penn. We had some highlights for sure throughout the day with Devan, Dasha, Liyin and others picking up singles wins. Jackie and Bennett continued their strong doubles play. Tomorrow will be another full day of quality tennis. "
Penn State also had four doubles teams compete on Friday. (Shukow, Sapogova) lost to Cheng/Groener of W&M 6-0. (Smith, Hanley) fell to Shah/Dua of Cornell 7-6(4). (Zuhse, Dunn) defeated Singh/Zhu of Penn 6-4. (McCluskey, Blik) lost to Pollack/Ren/ of Col 7-5. Liyin Xu did not compete in doubles.
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