UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.— The Penn State women's tennis team will continue conference play with a two-game road trip this weekend. The Nittany Lions (2-1, 1-1 B1G) will travel to New Jersey to take on Rutgers (0-2, 0-2 B1G) on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. before traveling south to face Maryland (0-2, 0-2 B1G) on Sunday at 2 p.m.
FOLLOW ALONG
Rutgers: Live stats
Maryland: Live stats (passcode: terps)
LAST TIME OUT
The Nittany Lions split a two-match home stand last weekend with a win against Indiana and a loss to Purdue. Penn State defeated the Hoosiers for the first time since the 2015 season.
Against Indiana, Penn State lost all three doubles matchups in competitive 6-4 sets to give the Hoosiers the early lead. A win by Gabby O'Gorman (Gunnedah, N.S. Wales, Australia) and the first career singles win for Karly Friedland (Hollywood, Fla.) put the Nittany Lions ahead before the Hoosiers answered back with two singles wins of their own. Samantha Smith (Cary, N.C.) tied up the match, setting up Alexandra Nielsen (Vancouver, B.C., Canada) to clinch the match with her first career singles win to give Penn State a 4-3 victory.
In the matchup with Purdue, Penn State fell behind 1-0 after losing two of three doubles matchups. Freshman Sofiya Chekhlystova (Talinn, Estonia) evened the score with her first career singles win, but Purdue stormed back with three consecutive singles wins to clinch the match. Smith and Nielsen both secured wins to finish the weekend undefeated in singles, but it was not enough as the Boilermakers prevailed 4-3.
SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
Rutgers opened its season last weekend with a 7-0 loss to Michigan and a 6-1 loss to Michigan State. Senior Maya Jacobs leads the way for the Scarlet Knights with the team's sole singles win. Rutgers has been consistent with its singles lineup, maintaining the same order in singles slots one through five in the first two matches and rotating between senior Isabelle Da Silva and freshman Daira Cardenas in the six spot. The Scarlet Knights have yet to record a doubles win on the season.
The Nittany Lions are looking to break a two-match losing skid to the Scarlet Knights, with the last Penn State win coming in 2016.
LOOKING INTO THE TERRAPINS
Maryland began the season with a 3-4 to Michigan State and a 2-5 loss to Michigan on its road trip.
The Terrapins carry a strong top two, with #89 Anyana Akli and Eva Alexandrova both carrying undefeated records and holding the team's only singles wins. In doubles, the pairings of Akli/Minorka Miranda and Alexandrova/Adela Josefova lead the way with 1-1 records. While Maryland has a very young roster, the team returns many familiar faces. Miranda and Ebony Sampson are the lone newcomers, with Miranda being a freshman and Sampson transferring in from the University of Illinois at Springfield.
Penn State's last win against Maryland came in 2015, with the Terrapins taking the last two matchups.
HISTORY ON THE HORIZON FOR SMITH
With two singles wins this weekend, Smith can surpass Jenny Shular (68) for second on Penn State's all-time singles win list. Olga Novikova sits atop with list with 95.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will return home to take on Michigan on Friday, Feb. 26 and Michigan State on Sunday, Feb. 28.
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.
