UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; March 17, 2017-- The Penn State women's tennis team jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after collecting the doubles point against Minnesota. Three Nittany Lions combined for singles wins contributing to the 4-3 victory over the Gophers.
"Tonight was a battle against Minnesota which we knew it would be if we were going to come out with the W," said head coach Chris Cagle. "We have not beaten Minnesota in a while and we knew we would have to get a complete team effort to get across the finish line. I was proud of our team but we have a short turnaround as we take on Wisconsin on Sunday morning at their place. We will be ready for another battle."
Samantha Smith (Cary, N.C.), and Katia Blik (Moscow, Russia) dominated their singles matches in straight sets. Junior Bennett Dunn (Orlando, Florida) won her match against Camila Vargas Gomez 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) in a tiebreaker.
The Nittany Lions set the tone early in doubles play as McCluskey/Hanley defeated Ryba/Frei of Minnesota 6-1. Blik/Smith took their doubles match to a tiebreaker and beat Emme/Vargas-Gomez 7-6 (10-7).
The team travels to Wisconsin this Sunday, March 19, when they take on the Badgers at 11:00 a.m. ET. They return home to the Sarni Indoor Tennis Center in two weeks when they take on Maryland at 5:00p.m.
Keep up with the Penn State women's tennis team at GoPSUsports.com. For continued updates throughout the year, make sure to `like' our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewten and follow our twitter @pennstateWTEN.
Doubles Results:
1) McCluskey/Hanley (PSU) def. Ryba/Frei (MIN) 6-1
2) Safdar/ Merzbacher (MIN) def. Zuhse/Dunn 6-4
3) Blik/Smith (PSU) def. Emme/Gomez (MIN) 7-6 (10-7).
Singles Results:
1) Smith (PSU) def. Emme (MIN) 6-4, 6-0
2) Kreinis (MIN) def. McCluskey (PSU) 6-3, 6-0
3) Vujic (MIN) def. Hanley (PSU) 6-2, 6-4
4) Dunn (PSU) def. Vargas-Gomez (MIN) 6-4, 7-6 (7-1).
5) Blik (PSU) def. Ryba (MIN) 6-4, 6-2
6) Mancera (MIN) def. Zuhse (PSU) 6-3, 4-6, 12-10