BLACKSBURG, Va., March 23, 2003 - The Virginia Tech women's tennis team picked up a 6-1 victory over No. 72 Penn State Sunday at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center. With the win, the Hokies improve to 11-9 on the season, while the Lady Lions fall to 6-7.

The Hokies started strong, winning two of three doubles matches on the way to taking the doubles point. In the first doubles match, Kristen Stubbs (Sr., Hilton Head, S.C.) and Felice Lam (So., Seattle, Wash.) downed Leigh Ann Merryman and Maaria Husain, 8-6, and Zdenka Videnova (Sr., Skopje, Macedonia) and Ginger Lowdermilk (Jr., Bossier City, La.) topped Sarah Spence and Lindsey Downing, 8-4, in the third doubles match. The only win the Nittany Lions picked up in doubles play came during the second match, with Megan Marton and Judy Wang defeating Tech's Elissa Kinard (So., Charleston, S.C.) and Carolyn Kramer (So., Manchester, Mo.), 8-6.

Tech continued its dominance in singles play, winning five of six singles matches. Stubbs started off the singles action, defeating Marton, 6-1, 6-0. Penn State continued to fight as Merryman topped Kramer, 6-2, 6-1, in the No. 2 match. The Hokies bounced back as Kinard held off Husain to take the third match, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

In the No. 4 match, Lam defeated Wang in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. Lowdermilk kept the Hokies rolling by winning the No. 5 match, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, over Penn State's Spence. In the final match of the day, Videnova topped Downing, 7-5, 6-2.

"I think this was a very important victory for us in terms of how much our program is improving," said head coach Lisa Hart following the victory over Penn State. "It was important for us to come back and beat a team that beat us a year ago. I was extremely proud of how hard our team played today and the amount of heart we showed."

Penn State will be back in action this Friday, as it plays host to Big Ten rival Indiana at 4 p.m.

Virginia Tech 6, Penn State 1

Singles

No. 1 Kristen Stubbs (VT) def. Megan Marton (PSU) 6-1, 6-0

No. 2 Leigh Ann Merryman (PSU) def. Carolyn Kramer (VT) 6-2, 6-1

No. 3 Elissa Kinard (VT) def. Maaria Husain (PSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4

No. 4 Felice Lam (VT) def. Judy Wang (PSU) 6-2, 6-2

No. 5 Ginger Lowdermilk (VT) def. Sarah Spence 6-1, 4-6, 6-3

No. 6 Zdenka Videnova (VT) def. Lindsey Downing (PSU) 7-5, 6-2

Doubles

Stubbs/Lam (VT) def. Merryman/Husain (PSU) 8-6

Marton/Wang (PSU) def. Kinard/Kramer (VT) 8-6

Videnova/Lowdermilk (VT) def. Spence/Downing 8-4