UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.-- The Penn State women’s tennis team defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 5-2. This win over the Hawkeyes marks the first conference win for the team.
The Hawkeyes were playing with only five players, which led to only two doubles matches, and a win by default at No. 6 singles for the Nittany Lions.
In doubles, the team clinched the point on court two, with a win from Gabby O’Gorman (Gunnedah, N.S. Wales, Australia) and Samantha Smith (Cary, N.C.) over Yufei Long and Adorabol Huckleby, 6-3. Shannon Hanley (Kensington, Md.) and Bennett Dunn (Orlando, Fla.) fell to the No. 49 ranked team of Elise Van Heuvelen and Anastasia Reimchen, 6-2.
Headed into singles, the team was up 2-0, after securing the doubles point and a win by default from No. 6 singles. Frederikke Svarre (Copenhagen, Denmark) fell to Long, 6-3, 6-2. Dunn got a 6-2, 6-2 win over Crawford. Smith clinched the match win, defeating Huckleby, 6-1, 7-5. Hanley finished within seconds of Smith, and won 6-2, 7-5 over Reimchen. O’Gorman fell to Van Heuvelen, 6-2, 6-3.
“We knew Iowa would be a quality team and a tough match, and it definitely was,” said head coach Chris Cagle. “We’ve been so close lately, and the team has been invested 100% in competing hard. We knew the payoff would happen soon, and it was nice for it to happen tonight. Proud of the team and we are looking forward to a little bit of a break and then we’ll be getting ready for Nebraska on the road next weekend.”
The Lions improve to 6-7 on the season and 1-1 in the Big Ten. Up next, the team will have an off weekend and then they will travel to play No. 21 Nebraska on Sunday, Mar. 25 at 10:00 a.m.