MADISON, Wis. – Senior Samantha Smith (Cary, N.C) earned her 75th career singles win, but the Nittany Lions were bested by Minnesota 4-3 in Penn State's opening match of the Big Ten Tournament. The Nittany Lions finish the season 10-8 with nine wins in conference, the most since the 2014-15 season.
Doubles
Minnesota claimed the early 1-0 lead with wins at No. 1 and 2 in doubles.
Sofiya Chekhlystova (Talinn, Estonia) and Alexandra Nielsen (Vancouver, B.C., Canada) came through with a 6-4 win over River Hart and Zeyneb Sarioglan.
Smith and Olivia Ryan (Victoria, Australia) fell to Ekin Ercetin and Juliet Zhang in a 6-4 set.
Gabby O'Gorman (Gunnedah, N.S. Wales, Australia) and Karly Friedland (Hollywood, Fla.) were narrowly defeated by Dalila Said and Rachel Hanford in a 6-7 loss as Minnesota took the lead.
Singles
The Gophers built on the lead as Svarre lost to Said 0-6, 2-6.
Smith got the Nittany Lions on the board with her 75th career singles win by making quick work of Lucia de Santa Ana in a 6-1, 6-0 victory.
Chekhlystova had another impressive performance in a 6-0, 6-2 win over Ercetin.
The Nittany Lions took a 3-2 lead as Nielsen took down Sarioglan in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.
Minnesota bounced back and evened the match at 3-3 as O'Gorman was defeated by #112 Hanford in a 6-7, 1-6 match.
The match came down to court 5, where Friedland was defeated in three sets by Zhang as Minnesota earned the win.
Doubles Final
Rachel Hanford/Dalila Said (MINN) def. Gabby O'Gorman/Karly Friedland (PSU) 7-6
Ekin Ercetin/Juliet Zhang (MINN) def. Samantha Smith/Olivia Ryan (PSU) 6-4
Alexandra Nielsen/Sofiya Chekhlystova (PSU) def. Zeyneb Sarioglan/River Hart (MINN) 6-4
Order of finish: 3,2,1
Singles Final
#112 Rachel Hanford (MINN) def. Gabby O'Gorman (PSU) 7-6, 6-1
Sofiya Chekhlystova (PSU) def. Ekin Ercetin (MINN) 6-0, 6-2
Dalila Said (MINN) def. Frederikke Svarre (PSU) 6-0, 6-2
Samantha Smith (PSU) def. Lucia de Santa Ana (MINN) 6-1, 6-0
Juliet Zhang (MINN) def. Karly Friedland (PSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
Alexandra Nielsen (PSU) def. Zeyneb Sarioglan (MINN) 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: 3,4,2,6,1,5
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