UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; The Penn State women’s tennis team hosts a pair of Big Ten Conference matches this weekend. On Friday, Maryland will come to town for a 5:00 pm matchup, and on Sunday, the Nittany Lions will face Rutgers at 11:00 am. Both matches include free admission and free pizza and will be played inside the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center, which is next to Pegula Ice Arena and Holuba Hall.
"It will be nice to be home for two Big Ten matches this weekend,” commented head coach Chris Cagle. “We are working hard in preparation for the weekend and all of our focus is on Maryland as we head into Friday. We hope to have a great crowd out as the fan support will be big to create our usual home court advantage. It should be a great weekend of tennis."
Penn State is coming off a very successful weekend in the Big Ten, defeating conference foes Minnesota and Wisconsin by 4-3 and 7-0 scores. The Nittany Lions currently hold a 2-1 Big Ten record on the season. Freshmen Samantha Smith (Cary, N.C.) and Shannon Hanley (Kensington, Md.) lead the team in singles wins with 6 apiece.
Maryland (11-3, 2-2 Big Ten) is coming off of being swept last weekend on the road against Northwestern and Illinois, losing both matches by 5-2 scores. The Terps are led by their #1 singles player, Alexandra Stanova, who sported a 6-15 overall record last season but has bounced back this season.
Rutgers will come into Happy Valley with a 5-8 record this season, including an 0-4 mark in conference play. The Scarlet Knights were also swept last weekend against Northwestern and Illinois. Their #1 singles player, Mingxiu Du, has an overall record of 5-7 this season playing at the first and second singles spots.