Tuesday, 02/07/2012

COLUMBUS, Ohio ­– In its 2012 Big Ten Conference opener, the 57th-ranked Ohio State women’s tennis team fell to league foe Penn State, 4-3, on the road in State College, Pa., Tuesday evening. The Buckeyes (3-4, 0-1 Big Ten) took the doubles point, but could not hold off the Nittany Lions (3-2, 1-0 Big Ten) in singles, dropping four matches. Four of the six singles matches were decided in three sets.

Ohio State resumes its 2012 slate at home Feb. 19 against Tennessee inside the Varsity Tennis Center.

After dropping the No. 3 doubles match to Penn State, Ohio State recorded a pair of 8-6 victories to take the first point of the match. The 52nd-ranked duo of Kelsey Dieters and Kara Cecil downed Petra Januskova and Nina Sertic on court one before the Scarlet and Gray tandem of Kelsey Haviland and Noelle Malley clinched the doubles point with a victory over Marie Bedard and Fernanda Perrotta on court two.

Januskova, ranked 96th nationally in singles, earned the first point for the Nittany Lions with a 6-0, 2-6, 6-0 win over Cecil on court one. Januskova’s doubles partner, Sertic, notched the second point for Penn State with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Tiffany Dittmer on court six.

Perrotta moved the score to 3-1 in favor of the Nittany Lions with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 win over Dieters on court four, but Gabby Steele answered for the Buckeyes with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win over Bedard on court five.

Despite bouncing back from a 4-1 deficit in the second set on court two, Haviland could not keep the momentum of a three-game swing and PSU’s Chelsea Utting sealed the match for the homestanding Nittany Lions with a 6-3, 6-4 win on court two.

Manashirova cemented the final score at 4-3 with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Carmen Sandor on court three. The junior from Elk Grove, Calif., is undefeated in singles in 2012 with a 7-0 record.

Penn State 4, #57 Ohio State 3
Feb 07, 2012 at University Park, Pa.
(Indoor Tennis Center)

Singles competition

1. #96 Januskova, Petra (PSU) def. Cecil, Kara (OSU), 6-0, 2-6, 6-0
2. Utting, Chelsea (PSU) def. Haviland, Kelsey (OSU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Manashirova, Fidan (OSU) def. Sandor, Carmen (PSU) 6-2, 6-1
4. Perrotta, Fernanda (PSU) def. Dieters, Kelsey (OSU) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6
5. Steele, Gabby (OSU) def. Bedard, Marie (PSU) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
6. Sertic, Nina (PSU) def. Dittmer, Tiffany (OSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

Doubles competition

1. #52 Dieters, Kelsey/Cecil, Kara (OSU) def. Januskova, Petra/Sertic, Nina (PSU) 8-6
2. Haviland, Kelsey/Malley, Noelle (OSU) def. Bedard, Marie/Perrotta, Fernanda (PSU) 8-6
3. Sandor, Carmen/Utting, Chelsea (PSU) def. Steele, Gabby/Manashirova, Fidan (OSU) 8-1

Match Notes:
Ohio State 3-4 (0-1 Big Ten); National ranking #57
Penn State 3-2 (1-0 Big Ten)
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,6,4,5,2,3)