STATE COLLEGE, PA. — The University of Iowa women’s tennis team, ranked No. 58 nationally, defeated No. 59 Penn State, 4-3, on Friday at the Sarni Tennis Center.
The Hawkeyes (9-7, 4-2) began the match with two doubles victories to gain the points on courts two and three. Marisa Schmidt/Daianne Hayashida recorded the first win on court two over Nielsen/Zuffova (6-3). On court three, Barbora Pokorna/Pia Kranholdt followed suit with another 6-3 victory over Gheorghita/Lebedeva. Samantha Mannix/Vipasha Mehra’s match on court one went unfinished once the Hawkeyes captured the point.
Iowa closed out the match by securing singles wins on courts two, three, and four. On court one, Mannix was defeated by Chekhlystova in a straight set (6-2, 6-1). Pokorna lost to Dorner on court five (6-3, 6-0).
Trailing 2-1, Schmidt notched the Hawkeyes’ first singles point with a straight-set triumph on court two against Zuffova (6-2, 6-4). Hayashida continued on court three, with another straight-set win against her opponent Gheorghita (6-0, 7-5). On court six, Kranholdt went to a third set against Friedland, but ultimately lost (6-4, 4-6, 6-3).
With the match tied 3-3, Mehra took her singles match to a tiebreaker in the second set, but was edged, 7-5. In the third and deciding set, Mehra came out on top (6-4, 6-7, 6-3) to give the visitors the win.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH SASHA SCHMID
“Great win for the team today; another hard-fought conference win on the road against a good Penn State team. Doubles point was really important and it felt like we had to come and battle. This was a good bounce back win from the match we dropped on Sunday to Indiana. I am really proud of the team to have some resiliency and battle today. We are going to enjoy this one and get ready for Ohio State.”
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes will head to Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday to face No. 8 Ohio State. The match will start at 11 a.m. (CT) at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.
RESULT
#58 Iowa 4, #59 Penn State 3
SINGLES
1. Sofiya Chekhlystova (PSU) def. Samantha Mannix (UI) : 6-2, 6-1
2. Marisa Schmidt (UI) def. Yvonne Zuffova (PSU): 6-2, 6-4
3. Daianne Hayashida (UI) def. Ioana Gheorghita (PSU): 6-0, 7-5
4. Vipasha Mehra (UI) def. Carla Girbau (PSU): 6-4, 6-7, 6-2
5. Olivia Dorner (PSU) def. Barbora Pokorna (UI): 6-3, 6-0
6. Karly Friedland (PSU) def. Pia Kranholdt (UI): 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
DOUBLES
1. Chekhlystova/Girbau (PSU) vs. Mannix/Mehra (UI): 4-3 unfinished
2. Schmidt/Hayashida (UI) def. Nielsen/Zuffova (PSU): 6-3
3. Pokorna/Kranholdt (UI) def. Gheorghita/Lebedeva (PSU): 6-3
Order of Finish: Singles (5,1,2,3,6,4); Doubles (2,3)