The Penn State women's tennis team battled hard Friday night and came up with a 4-3 win over Illinois. The Nittany Lions had a sweep in doubles, giving them momentum for the singles round.

"We did a good job of fighting back and we put more ball in play," Penn State women's tennis coach Buffy Baker said. "We ended up making the other team panic which gave us points."

But despite the hard-fought win against Illinois, the Big Ten weekend did not end well for the Lions, as they suffered a terrible upset to Purdue yesterday, losing 7-0.

Against Illinois, the freshmen stepped up and took over key positions. Freshmen Dorothy Dohanics and Lauren Holzberg clinched the match with doubles points.

After coming off two fairly easy sweeps, the team had to adjust to a more competitive type of play. Baker said the team did a great job of adapting to the competition.

"With the energy of the Big Ten, the rivalry, the home match, it's pretty easy for the team to get up," Baker said. "If you can't get up for a Big Ten match, you'd be in big trouble."

Junior Sasha Abraham said the doubles point was very important -- it's a moral booster and it brings on a lot of confidence.

"I just think that we have been pretty much knocking at the door for the last few years," Abraham said. "The minute we saw an opportunity, the whole team contributed in every way to pull through. It was an overall great team effort, in particular from the freshmen."

Junior Katelyn BeVard did a commendable job throughout the match against Illinois. Baker said that BeVard was the player who gave the team its momentum and stepped up at the right times.

"She closed the match out decisively with a tremendous amount of energy and momentum," Baker said. "She's a great fighter -- not always the one with the prettiest shot, or the right shot selection, but she knows how to battle and win points."

Against Purdue, though, Penn State had a hard time holding onto the match.

"It was a close doubles," Abraham said. "I still think that had we won doubles, things would have been a little different."

Everyone came out firing in singles. Baker pointed out that all the courts were 3-4 or 4-3 at one point, but Purdue did a better job of closing the matches, while the Lions spent time trying to make the come back.

"They did a better job than us, doing what they do best." Abraham said.

Baker thought her team played a good doubles point in a tight match.

"The difference in the end was we were challenged in different ways than Illinois," Baker said. "Purdue is a better team overall, and we ended up with our backs against the wall. We didn't adapt as quickly and as well as we have in other matches."

In the end, Purdue stepped up and did a good job of playing its game, which put Penn State on the defense. The Lions were unable to convert the opportunities they were given, and that was a decisive factor in the loss.

"When playing high-ranked teams like Purdue, you have to seize the moment as it comes," Abraham said. "We've learned a few things from Purdue, and, if we take it to practice and against Wisconsin next weekend, we should be good."