UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State women's tennis team wraps up its four-match road trip with two matches against conference newcomers No. 47 Maryland and Rutgers. The Nittany Lions head to the Tennis Center at College Park to battle the Terrapins on Saturday, March 21 for an 11 a.m. match. The blue and white turn right around for a noon match Sunday at the Rutgers Tennis Complex.
Scouting Maryland The Terrapins (9-5, 2-1) enter the weekend ranked 47th in the latest ITA rankings. Maryland has won seven of their last eight matches, including their most recent 7-0 win over Morgan State. Sophomore Alexandra Stanova was tabbed the Big Ten Athlete of the Week for her performance last week. Stanova won all three singles matches, including defeating the 19th ranked singles player Ronit Yurovsky of Michigan. In the first doubles position, her and partner Welma Luus defeated Nerbaska's No. 47 ranked Mary Hanna and Izabella Zgierska.
Scouting RutgersThe Scarlet Knights are currently 6-6 on the season and host Ohio State Friday before battling the Nittany Lions Sunday. Rutgers is currently 0-3 in their first season in the Big Ten. Senior Lindsay Balsamo has won three of her last four singles matches entering the weekend.
Nittany Lions in Conference Dasha Sapogova (Minsk, Belarus) has won two of her last three conference singles matches from the four position. Kim Surin (Montreal, Canada) is also 2-1 in conference singles play, including the clinching victory to upset then No. 37 Illinois. The doubles tandem of Katherine Whiteaway (Sawbridgeworth, England) and Jacqueline Zuhse (Boca Raton, Fla.) won three straight matches before stopping their match against Ohio State due to the fact that the Buckeyes already clinched the doubles point.
Next Time OutThe blue and white return home next weekend for matches against No. 52 Indiana and No. 28 Purdue Friday and Sunday, respectively. Follow the Nittany Lions on Facebook at Penn State Women's Tennis and on twitter @pennstateWTEN.