Panthers improve to 4-0, best start for team since 2002

            HOLDERNESS, N.H.  – The Plymouth State University women's tennis team improved to 4-0 on the season Wednesday afternoon with a 9-0 victory over Castleton State College in a non-conference match at the Holderness School Courts.

            The 4-0 record for PSU is the best start since the 2002 Panthers opened the season with six straight wins. Castleton had its four-match win streak stopped and fell to 5-2.

            Junior Zara Jakubas (Califon, N.J./Voorhees) and freshman Sunny Jakubas (Califon, N.J./Voorhees) continued their strong play for PSU, with neither dropping a game all day.  They were both 6-0, 6-0 winners at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively, and they teamed up for an 8-0 triumph at No. 1 doubles. Zara has a 4-0 record in singles this season and Sunny is 3-1, and they are unbeaten together in doubles (4-0).

            All four other Panthers in the line-up posted double-victories against the Spartans. Freshman Cassidy Wells (Colchester, Vt.) at No. 3 singles, junior Nitsa Ioannides (El Cajon, Calif.) at No. 5 and senior Rosalie DiRado (Gansevoort, N.Y.) at No. 6 all improved to 4-0 on the season, while sophomore Nikki Lund (Hingham, Mass.) upped her mark to 3-1 at No. 4 singles.

            Ioannides and Lund remained perfect (4-0) at No. 2 doubles, coming back from a 7-4 deficit to pull out a 9-7 decision. DiRado and Wells are now 2-0 at No. 3 doubles.

            Castleton's top performance came from freshman Gabrielle Keyser (Claremont, N.H.), who won the second set at No. 6 singles to force a third-set tiebreaker.

            PSU plays its next two matches on the road, beginning with a Little East Conference match Saturday at UMass Boston. Castleton plays a North Atlantic Conference match Saturday at Thomas College in Maine. 

-- 30 --