Women’s Tennis Welcomes James Madison and Marshall to Happy Valley

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women’s tennis team continues its homestand with a weekend of action against Sun Belt Conference foes James Madison and Marshall.  

The Nittany Lions (6-1, 0-1 Big Ten) take on the Dukes (3-5, 0-0 Sun Belt) at 4 p.m. on Friday before facing off with the Thundering Herd (5-3, 0-0 Sun Belt) at noon on Sunday. Both matches will be played at the Indoor Tennis Center. 

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT 

• Penn State split a doubleheader with No. 2 Ohio State and St. Bonaventure on February 15. The Blue & White fell to the Buckeyes, 5-2, before responding with an emphatic 7-0 victory over the Bonnies. 

• Patricia Grigoras earned the first ranked victory of her young career against Ohio State as she took down No. 114 Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev, 6-1, 5-7, 11-9, on court three. The sophomore cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win on court one over Sara Montano Parada in the St. Bonaventure match. 

• Brianna Baldi was the other Nittany Lion to earn a singles win against the second-ranked Buckeyes. She defeated Flora Johnson, 7-5, 6-1, on court five. 

• No. 72 Olivia Dorner and Maiko Uchijima made their 2026 spring debut against the Bonnies, securing a 6-0 triumph over Tamara Bachmann and Montano Parada. Dorner bested Bachmann, 6-2, 6-2, at the two spot in singles. 

• Jordina Cegarra and Ansley Cox paired for a 6-2 doubles victory against St. Bonaventure’s Sienna Smith and Kelly Barnes on court two. The tandem carried the momentum into singles with each of them picking up resounding victories. Cox swept Kashish Bote, 6-0, 6-0 on court four while Cegarra took a 6-2, 6-1 win against Gabriella Blumberg on court five. 

• Maria Daciana Ciubotaru on court three and Katerina Dimitrova on court six rounded on the team’s singles wins. 

ACROSS THE NET 

JAMES MADISON 

• James Madison travels to Happy Valley with a 3-5 record in 2026. On Wednesday, the Dukes dropped a 6-1 result on the road against Maryland. 

• JMU has played five Power Four opponents with the lone win over those teams coming against Virginia Tech, 4-3, in Blacksburg, Virginia. The team’s other wins came over Omaha and Howard. 

• The Dukes matched up with the Big Ten’s Nebraska to open the season with the Cornhuskers taking the match 5-2. Additionally, they played Princeton, another future Penn State opponent, on the road, falling 4-3. 

• Daria Munteau plays on court one in singles. Notably, she earned wins in the Maryland and Nebraska matches. She picked up court three doubles wins against Kentucky and Virginia Tech. 

MARSHALL 

• Marshall enters the weekend with a 5-3 record and winners of three straight. The Thundering Herd hosts in-state rival West Virginia on Friday before heading to Happy Valley on Sunday.  

• Marshall’s most recent match came on February 8, a 6-1 victory against VCU. Besides the Rams, the Thundering Herd have defeated Eastern Kentucky, Bellarmine, Bowling Green and Cleveland State. Marshall dropped contests to No. 6 LSU, No. 25 UCF and Wake Forest. The Herd fell by a 4-3 margin against the ACC’s Demon Deacons. 

• Johanna Strom competes at the top court for singles and is a multi-time All-Sun Belt Conference First Team Singles and Doubles selection. 

• A season ago, Marshall won 20 matches and reached the Sun Belt Women’s Tennis Championship, ultimately dropping a 4-1 result to Old Dominion. 

SERIES HISTORY 

JAMES MADISON 

• Penn State and James Madison will meet for the 28th time on Friday, which is the second most played non-Big Ten opponent for the Nittany Lions.  

• The series dates back to 1976 with the Blue & White owning a 17-10 edge, including wins in the past two matchups. 

• Penn State won the last meeting in the series, 4-1, in Happy Valley during the 2023 season.  

MARSHALL 

• Sunday marks the 20th meeting between Penn State and Marshall since the series began in 1996. 

• The Thundering Herd own a slight lead in the all-time series, 10-9. However, the Nittany Lions won the last four matchups. 

• The most recent meeting was a 4-3 victory for the Blue & White in Huntington, West Virginia in 2023.