The Penn State women’s tennis team defeated Rutgers 4-1 on Mar. 29 in its first outdoor home match of the season at Sarni Tennis Center.
The win improves Penn State’s record to 12-6 overall and 3-4 in Big Ten play, while Rutgers falls to 8-9 overall and 1-6 in the conference. The victory also marks another successful doubles performance for the Nittany Lions, who have now won the doubles point in thirteen matches this season and hold a strong record when doing so.
In doubles action, Olivia Dorner and Maelie Monfils secured a quick win over Mai Nguyen and Karina Jumazhanova with a decisive 6-0 score on court one. Jordina Cegarra and Maria Daciana Ciubotaru clinched the doubles point for Penn State by defeating Naomi Karki and Stella Schmitz, while Patricia Grigoras and Maiko Uchijima led their match before it was left unfinished.
Dorner continued her success into singles play with a straight-set victory against Zeynep Ilker, improving her dual-match record. Grigoras added another point for Penn State after winning against Nguyen on court one. Rutgers earned its only point when Uchijima fell to Jumazhanova on court two. Ciubotaru secured the overall win for Penn State by defeating Schmitz on court four, marking her sixth clinching match of the season.
Several matches were left unfinished as Brianna Baldi was locked in a close contest with Savannah Cohen on court five, while Cegarra held an advantage over Cindy Zhou on court six before play concluded.
Looking ahead, Penn State will begin a four-match road stretch starting with games at Iowa on April 3 and Nebraska on April 5.
