Behrend Edges Lions 4-3
ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's tennis team was home on Sunday afternoon to face off against Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Penn State Behrend, and the visitors eked out a 4-3 win over the Lions at the Adler Tennis Courts.
Penn State Altoona (4-1, 1-1 AMCC) scored the first point of the match, winning two out of three in doubles. However, Behrend (4-0, 3-0 AMCC) took four out of six tightly contested singles matches to come back and hand the Lions their first loss of the season.
Penn State Altoona posted victories in the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches to establish a 1-0 lead over Behrend. In the No. 1 spot, the duo of Rachel Stricek (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone)/Caitlin Blessel (Saint Marys, PA/Saint Marys) recorded its second win of the season with a 6-3 decision over their opponents. Abigail Morgan (Orrville, OH/Orrville)/Sienna Fell (Canonsburg, PA/Canon-McMillan) prevailed 6-2 in the No. 2 match to improve to 5-0 together this season.
But Behrend surged back to win the match by winning in the No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, and No. 5 singles spots, two of which went to match tiebreakers. Penn State Altoona's points came courtesy of Lexi Colaianni (Pittsburgh, PA/Kiski Area) and Daniel Fulton (Milford, DE/Milford). Colaianni boosted her season record to 5-0 with a 6-0, 7-6 (7-3) win in the No. 3 singles match, while Fulton improved to 4-0 after winning 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 at No. 6 singles.
Next up, Penn State Altoona women's tennis travels to play non-conference opponent Lycoming College on Friday, September 19 at 3:30 p.m.