UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.— The Penn State women's tennis team will be on the road this weekend to take on two formidable conference foes, facing Iowa (5-3, 5-1 B1G) on Friday at 3 p.m. and Nebraska (5-1, 5-1 B1G) on Sunday at 10 a.m.
FOLLOW ALONG
Iowa: Live stats
Nebraska: Live stats
LAST TIME OUT
The Nittany Lions split a pair of home contests with a loss against Michigan and a down to the wire victory against Michigan State.
Penn State started the weekend off with a 5-2 loss to Michigan. In the loss, there remained some positive takeaways as Samantha Smith (Cary, N.C.) moved into the top three on the Nittany Lions all-time singles win list with her 69th victory. Freshman Sofiya Chekhlystova (Talinn, Estonia) also pulled off an impressive upset of #71 Andrea Cerdan in straight sets by a score of 6-4, 6-3.
Against Michigan State, Penn State got off to a fast start securing the doubles point to take the early lead. Gabby O'Gorman (Gunnedah, N.S. Wales, Australia) won a three-set match against Mary Lewis by dominating the second and third sets, but the Spartans pulled ahead through wins in No. 3, 4, and 5. Chekhlystova came up huge in a third set tiebreak to even the score at 3-3, setting up Smith to close out the Nittany Lion victory with her win over Jennifer Timontin as the Nittany Lions improved to 5-2.
SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES
The Hawkeyes opened the season with a pair of nonconference losses to Texas and Arizona State, but have rebounded with a 5-1 record in conference play.
Iowa's doubles pairing of Samantha Gillas/Elise van Heuvelen lead the way with a 5-1 record in dual matches and a 9-1 record overall. In singles, the Hawkeyes are led by #97 Alexa Noel who boasts a 6-0 record in dual matches and 12-0 record overall, with van Heuvelen also enjoying a strong season with a 5-1 dual record and 8-2 record overall.
LOOKING INTO THE CORNHUSKERS
The #43 Cornhuskers are off to a great start with their only loss of the year coming against the #7 Northwestern Wildcats in the season-opener.
Nebraska's duo of Ellie Kuckelman/Hayley Haakenstad have the Cornhuskers' top record in doubles, going 4-0 this season. The Cornhuskers have also performed well in singles, with Kristina Novak holding a 6-0 record in the No. 1 slot, while Kuckelman has been solid with a 5-1 record.
CHEKHLYSTOVA'S EARLY SUCCESS
Since losing the first match of her collegiate tennis career, Sofiya Chekhlystova has won five consecutive matches and come up big in clutch moments highlighted by her wins this past weekend against Michigan's #71 Andrea Cerdan and Michigan State's Samantha Memije.
UP NEXT
Following the road trip this weekend, the Nittany Lions will return home to face off against #10 Ohio State.
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.
