A win is a win, regardless of how it comes.

That's the type of attitude Penn State women's tennis coach Buffy Baker has been preaching to her team after last week's 7-0 loss to Ohio State.

"You need to find a way to win," said Baker. "We're not always going to play perfect, so sometimes we just need to accept ugly wins."

Grueling matches and some ugly wins translated into an impressive victory for the Nittany Lions (3-5) yesterday, as they defeated Princeton 7-0 at the Sarni Tennis Center.

"This was a result of what we've been chipping away at in practice and in matches over the last couple weeks," Baker said.

Most emblematic of the team's newfound intensity was senior Leigh Ann Merryman's victory over Darcy Robertson of Princeton.

Merryman started out strong, but then fell behind Robertson in the second match. Penn State had already clinched victory halfway through the tiebreaker match, leaving the two to battle it out for pride.

"I got feisty towards the end because I really, really wanted it," Merryman said.

Merryman's victory was not the only hard-fought win. Though Penn State carried some momentum into singles after winning the doubles, Princeton fought hard to avoid defeat.

Juniors Maaria Husain and Megan Marton won in close matches and junior Sarah Spence's match also carried into a tiebreaker.

The weekend didn't start out well for the Lions.

They lost 6-1 to Marshall on Friday afternoon at home.

Freshman Sasha Abraham provided the Lions with their only singles win and combined with fellow freshman Katelyn BeVard for the team's lone doubles win.

Though it lost, the team performed better and played harder than it did last weekend when it was swept 7-0 at Ohio State.

"A lot of good things came out of the Marshall match that carried over," Baker said.

The win against Princeton was Penn State's third victory over the Tigers all-time, the last one being in 1996.

This year's Princeton team is not as strong as in years past. The loss was the third for the Tigers, who lost to Marshall 7-0 on Saturday at Penn State.

"They're not as strong as Marshall or Yale, but I think we're a much better team now than we were two weeks ago," Baker said.

The Lions hope to carry the momentum from yesterday's win into the rest of the season.

"I think this match built up our confidence and could become a turning point for our team," Merryman said.