PSU Tennis battles Gophers, Badgers this weekend | News, Sports, Jobs

UNIVERSITY PARK — The No. 48 Penn State women’s tennis team (8-8) will face two Big Ten opponents this weekend when they face Minnesota (5-7) on Friday, March 17 and No .16 Wisconsin (12-2) compete on Sunday, May 19.

“We’re really excited to be back home after a couple of tough losses on the road and to continue the Big Ten season here at home.” said head coach Alexandra Anghelescu. “Minnesota and Wisconsin are definitely on our radar and part of our goals that we want to achieve. We lost to both of them last year and we’re looking for redemption this year. I think the training and experience of playing against top teams prepared us for the upcoming Big Ten season.”

PREVIEW PENN STATE

The Nittany Lions return to University Park after back-to-back losses to UCF (5-2) and Charlotte (4-3).

In the match against UCF, Ioana Gheorghita and Carla Girbau both recorded individual wins. The blue and white scored twice against Charlotte. Sofiya Chekhlystova and Olivia Dorner both had individual wins.

In this week’s ITA Collegiate Tennis Ranking, the Penn State women’s tennis team ranked 48th.

MAP MINNESOTA

The Wisconsin women’s tennis team has endured a triple losing streak, two of which were Big Ten matches.

The Golden Gophers’ last game was a 4-1 loss to Iowa. The team’s point came from a singles win by Zeyneb Sarioglan.

WHAT ABOUT WISCONSIN

The Wisconsin women’s tennis team is on a nine-game winning streak. The team’s last three games were Big Ten wins over Minnesota, 4-0, No. 64 Iowa, 6-1 and Rutgers, 5-2.

The Badgers have three players in the ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. Ava Markham is at No. 56, Maria Sholokhova at No. 104, and Xinyu Cai at No. 107. The team also has a doubles at No. 54, pairing with Markham and Sholokhova.

The Wisconsin women’s tennis team will face No. 9 Ohio State before coming to Happy Valley to play the Nittany Lions.

NEXT

The Penn State women’s tennis team will resume their home Big Ten game on Sunday, March 26 at 11:00 am with a game against Indiana.