Following consecutive wins to start the season, the Penn State women's tennis team has now dropped two in a row.
The Nittany Lions fell 5-2 in their conference opener at Purdue on Friday.
The match was closer than the score indicates, as the Lions (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) pushed three matches into a third and decisive set but lost all three to the undefeated Boilermakers (5-0, 1-0).
Trailing 2-0, freshman Petra Januskova drew Penn State within one after defeating Michelle Sammons in straight sets at first singles, 6-2, 6-4. It appeared that Sammons would push Januskova to a third set after taking a 3-0 lead to start the second set. Januskova regrouped, though, and won six of the final seven games to earn the win and the point.
Fellow freshman Amy Simidian, who paired with Januskova for the Lions' only doubles win, knotted the match at 2-2 when she made quick work of Imogen Golder in straight sets at fifth singles.
Things began falling apart for the Lions from that point on, however.
After dropping the first set to the Boilermakers' Bhavani Tirumurti, third-singles player Maria Prishylak took the second set 6-2. Tirumurti rebounded, though, to take the third set 6-3 and give the Boilermakers a one-point advantage.
The Lions' Lauren McCarthy staked out to an early lead at fourth singles against Anna Dushkina. McCarthy won the first set 6-3, and it seemed as if the Lions were on their way to a 3-3 tie. Dushkina stormed back to take the final two sets and clinch the win for the Boilermakers with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Much like McCarthy, Sarah Henderson won the first set for the Lions at sixth singles but dropped the final two to produce the final score.
