Evanston, Ill., April 2, 2006¡ªThe Penn State women's tennis team was shut out by No. 6 Northwestern at the Combe Tennis Center today. The Lions lost their second straight match to move their record to 7-8 overall and 2-4 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats improve to 13-3 overall and 5-0 in the Big Ten.

The Wildcats dominated in the singles competition. In the No. 1 match, Sasha Abraham (Hyderabad, India) lost to Georgia Rose, who is ranked No. 36 in the country, 6-2, 6-4. Andreea Niculescu (Montreal, Quebec) lost to Cristelle Grier, ranked ninth in the country, 6-0, 6-2 in the No. 2 match. In the No. 3 match, Katelyn BeVard (McLean, Va.) dropped straight sets to Jamie Peisel, 6-4, 6-3. Jenny Shular (Peachtree City, Ga.) gave Feriel Esseghir a tough battle at the No. 4 spot and after evening the score at one set each, dropped the decisive third set to lose 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8). Northwestern's Nazlie Ghazal defeated Lauren Holzberg (Easton, Conn.) in the No. 5 match, 6-3, 6-4. At the No. 6 spot, Dorothy Dohanics (Pittsburgh, Pa.) lost to Alexis Conill, 6-3, 6-0.

In the No. 2 doubles match, Shular and BeVard were outmatched by Conill and Rose, 8-2. Dohanics and Holzberg dropped the No. 3 match to Ghazal and Peisel, 8-3. In the top match, Penn State pair Niculescu and Abraham came out strong and roared to a 4-0 lead over Esseghir and Grier, but Northwestern's pair battled back and won the match, 8-6.

The Nittany Lions return to action next Saturday, April 8 when they travel to Ohio State to take on the Buckeyes at 11 a.m.