UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.-- The Penn State women's tennis team is preparing to close out its regular season with two Big Ten matches in Illinois this coming weekend. The Nittany Lions will travel first to No. 32 Illinois on Friday, April 19 at 4 p.m. and then to No. 31 Northwestern on Sunday, April 21 at 12 p.m.
"Our team is excited for the final weekend of regular season matches," said head coach Chris Cagle. "We are looking to what is ahead of us this weekend and what we need to take care of to be successful on Friday and Sunday. I look forward to taking on the competition this weekend!"
FOLLOW ALONG
Illinois: Live Stats/Video
Northwestern: Live Stats/Video
LAST TIME OUT
Penn State (11-9, 3-6 B1G) is coming off two close Big Ten losses this past weekend. The Nittany Lions fell to Indiana, 5-2, and Purdue, 4-3.
Gabby O'Gorman (Gunnedah, N.S. Wales, Australia) and Olivia Rohrbacher (Sandusky, Ohio) recorded their first win over a ranked doubles pair against then-No. 45 Sylvia Ambrosio and Amina Mukhametshina, 6-2.
Samantha Smith (Cary, N.C.) grabbed two more Big Ten singles wins to move her overall record to 12-3 and is riding a four-match win streak.
SCOUTING THE ILLINI
No. 32 Illinois is 11-10 on the year and 6-3 in the Big Ten. Illinois is riding a two-match win streak, most recently taking down Big Ten opponents, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
No. 48 Asuka Kawai is the lone ranked singles player for the Illini. She leads Illinois with 12 singles wins all coming on court No. 1. Sasha Belaya and Mia Rabinowitz are the other Illini players with double digit singles wins, coming in with 11 apiece.
Kawai and Rabinowitz are leading the doubles charge, with 15 wins as a duo primarily coming on court No. 3.
TAMING THE WILDCATS
No. 31 Northwestern is 11-9 on the year and 5-4 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats are on a four-match losing streak, most recently falling to then-No. 47 Wisconsin. Northwestern will take on Chicago State and Ohio State before facing the Nittany Lions on Sunday.
Clarissa Hand is ranking No. 40 in singles and partnered with Lee Or is ranked No. 57 in doubles. Hand and Or have 10 doubles wins together to lead the Wildcats.
Julie Byrne, Or and Caroline Pozo all have 12 singles wins to their name, sharing a team-high.
"GUESS WHO'S BACK, BACK AGAIN"
O'Gorman and Rohrbacher jumped back into the Oracle/ITA Women's Division I Doubles Rankings this week at No. 79.
O'Gorman and Rohrbacher are 14-4 this spring, with all 14 wins coming on court No. 1. Their 14 wins are a team-high. The last Penn State doubles pair to record 14 wins in a season was Petra Januska and Chelsea Utting in 2013.
11 WINS
Penn State has 11 wins to its name, the last time the Nittany Lions reached double-digit wins in a season was in 2015, when the team went 13-11.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions are still in contention for a spot in the Big Ten Tournament. Results from around the conference this weekend will determine participants and seeding.
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.
