URBANA, Ill.-- The Penn State women's tennis team fell to No. 32 Illinois, 4-1, in Big Ten action Friday evening at the Atkins Tennis Center. After a strong showing in doubles, the Nittany Lions (11-10, 3-7 B1G) pushed four matches to a third set, but the Illini (12-10, 7-3 B1G) eventually came out on top.
"Sometimes the scores don't tell the whole story of a match," said head coach Chris Cagle. "Today, I think you can see what a close match this was if you look at the scores. We lost a tough road match that came down to just a few points. I feel like we competed at a high level today and I look to see us carry that in to Sunday against Northwestern."
DOUBLES
Penn State took the doubles point following a clinch from its ranked doubles duo, No. 79 Gabby O'Gorman (Gunnedah, N.S. Wales, Australia) and Olivia Rohrbacher (Sandusky, Ohio). The pair defeated Danielle Novak and Emilee Duong, 6-4.
Chelsea Sawyer (Clemmons, N.C.) and Frederikke Svarre (Copenhagen, Denmark) grabbed the other win for the Nittany Lions, taking down Asuka Kawai and Mia Rabinowitz, 6-4.
SINGLES
The Nittany Lions were able to push four singles matches to a third set, with two of those matches going unfinished.
O'Gorman was in a battle with No. 48 Kawai, pushing the match to a third set, following a 8-6 win in a tiebreaker in the second set. The match went unfinished headed into a third with score sitting at 1-6, 7-6(6), unfinished.
Shannon Hanley (Kensington, Md.) dropped her first set Dani Novak in a tiebreak, but quickly bounced back in the second, winning 6-1 to push it to a third. Hanley's match ended at (6)6-7, 6-1, unfinished.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will close out their regular season on the road at No. 31 Northwestern Sunday, April 21 at 12 p.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.
