Andi Chiumento can't stand the cold. In fact, she down right hates it.

If weather was a major factor in picking a university, Chiumento probably wouldn't be at Penn State.

"It's a little cold here for me," the Palm Coast, Fla., native said. "Each year the weather gets worse. Maybe if I had the right clothes I'd get used to it."

Fortunately for Women's Tennis Coach Sue Whiteside, the weather wasn't why Chiumento came to Penn State.

"I wanted to go to a school where I could play tennis," Chiumento said.

Since her parents are originally from New Jersey and she has relatives in the Pittsburgh area, Chiumento was always well informed about the Northeast.

"We grew up always loving Penn State football," she said. "My dad is a huge football fan -- JoePa and everything. That's how I got interested."

Before coming to University Park, Chiumento was the captain of her varsity team at Flagler Palm Coast High School for two years. After her final high school tennis season, she was named the school's female athlete-of-the-year.

Chiumento worked with tennis instructor Harry Gilbert when she first took up the sport. Gilbert, who teaches at Club duBonmont in Ormond, Fla., said Chiumento learned the game by playing on surfaces uncommon in Pennsylvania.

"Andi would occasionally go to a hard court to practice for a specific event, but her daily training was all on clay," Gilbert said. "I actually haven't seen her hit a ball on a hard court since she's been at Penn State. Andi always had good foot work and pretty good foot speed."

Even though Florida is a melting pot for aspiring tennis players, Chiumento wanted to get away from the sunshine state. Once at Penn State, she realized that tennis north of the border wasn't that much different from tennis down south.

"I think once you get to the college level, geography doesn't really matter," Chiumento said. "It's who developed the program and who has the name that keeps bringing the players back in."

However, playing tennis in Florida does have it's advantages. For one thing, you can play all year long.

"I think so many more people play tennis down there," Chiumento said. "Up here there's field hockey and lacrosse type stuff, whereas we don't have that down in Florida."

Although Chiumento said she enjoys playing singles, her career at Penn State has been devoted primarily to the doubles game. Whiteside said Chiumento is a terrific doubles player because of her athleticism.

"She has the quickness that allows her to get to shots, poach a lot more and really instill the fear of God in somebody on the other side when she's at the net," Whiteside said.

"Experience is what she needed and she really gained a lot, especially being so good in doubles," Whiteside added. "She got a lot of time playing doubles and getting the confidence in matches that she needed."

Last season, Chiumento played doubles with three different teammates -- Kristin Kovalik, Tricia Lehman and Tammy Okins-Nguyen. However, playing with different teammates on a variety of occasions doesn't bother Chiumento.

"I have fun playing doubles," the senior said. "You know where your teammates are moving and where they're going to be. I don't find it difficult to figure out."

Notes:

-- The women's tennis team will play its first dual match of the fall season at 8 a.m. on Sunday at Cornell.