After being at home for three straight weeks, the Penn State women's tennis team (4-6, 0-1 Big Ten) went back on the road to West Virginia to face off against Marshall and Middle Tennessee State over the weekend.

Although the Nittany Lions had a tough start with a 4-3 loss against Marshall on Friday, they finished off the weekend with a 6-1 victory over Middle Tennessee State on Saturday.

The Lions have a history with Marshall, and expected to come home with a victory, but the Thundering Herd overpowered them in doubles play.

Penn State freshman Lauren McCarthy and sophomore Dorothy Dohanics were the only team to get a victory in doubles, defeating Jessica Kenner and Yulia Kashelkina (8-5).

Senior Sasha Abraham and sophomore Lauren Holzberg were beaten by Lynzee Kever and Kellie Schmitt (8-6), and junior Jenny Shular and freshman Sarah Lotto were topped by Karolina Soor and Thaddea Lock (8-3).

In singles, McCarthy beat Jeanne Schwartz (6-2, 3-6, (10-3). Holzberg dominated Yulia Kashelkina (6-1, 4-6, 6-3), while Shular topped Kever (7-5, 6-3). Senior Andreea Niculescu had a hard-fought battle to Schmitt (7-6, (6), 6-3) while Abraham fell to Karolina Soor (6-2, 6-4). Dohanics lost to Thaddea Lock (7-5, 1-6, 7-5).

Penn State coach Buffy Baker believes Marshall is a well-coached team, and she was very pleased with the Lions in their singles performance.

"We had a great battle with Marshall, but we just needed a couple things to make us a bit more hungry," she said. "Going into doubles, a couple people went out there and weren't ready."

Although the Lions were unsuccessful in doubles against Marshall, they bounced back over Middle Tennessee State.

Dohanics and McCarthy crushed Stephanie Parkison and Pooja Kommireddi (8-2), while Lotto and Shular controlled the court with a victory against Marlene Chemin and Ann-Kristin Siljestrom (8-1). Abraham and Holzberg posted an 8-6 loss to Hala Sufi and Claudia Szabo.

The Lions dominated the court in singles by winning five of six matches.

Abraham defeated Siljestrom (6-2, 6-4), while Holzberg was against Chemin (6-3, 6-4). Shular played well against Szabo, beating her 6-4, 6-2. Dohanics got a 6-2, 6-1 victory against Parkison. McCarthy fought hard against Kommireddi, (7-6, 6-2, 7-4). Niculescu was unsuccessful and was beaten by Sufi (6-0, 6-1).

After playing against the Blue Raiders, the Lions recognized mistakes that they made from the previous match.

"It would have been nice to come back home being 2-0," Baker said.