Women's tennis drop nail biter to Wells

Box Score READING, PA (April 20, 2012) - The Penn State Berks women's tennis team suffered a 5-4 setback to Wells College in a North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) match on Friday afternoon at Gring's Mill. (Boxscore)

The Nittany Lions fell to 7-5 overall and were handed their first loss in conference play, while Wells moves to 7-4 overall and 5-0 in the NEAC. With the win, the Express clinched the NEAC regular-season and will enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed.

After tough defeats at first and third doubles, the No. 2 duo of Elizabeth Kehm and Amanda Fuller pulled out a thrilling 8-7 victory to cut the team deficit to 2-1. The pair earned the victory after taking the tiebreak by a score of 7-4.

Kristina Hatter made quick work of her singles match, winning 7-5, 6-1 to even the contest at 2-all. After Wells won at fifth singles, Kehm pulled the Nittany Lions even with a 6-3, 6-1 victory at the No. 4 spot. The Express again jumped out to a lead with a win at No. 2 singles, but Arion Harris won at third singles 6-1, 7-6 (7-3).

All that was the marathon match at No. 1 singles between Crystal Hitz and Chika Taguchi. The bout, which went three sets and was close to two hours long, was a back-and-forth battle. Hitz took the first set by a score of 6-4, but Taguchi bounced back with wins of 6-3 and 6-2 to win the match.

The Nittany Lions will finish off the regular-season when they host Keuka College at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 21 at Gring's Mill.

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Players Mentioned

Amanda Fuller: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Arion Harris: 5' 2"; Sophomore

Crystal Hitz: 5' 7"; Sophomore

Elizabeth Kehm: 5' 4"; Freshman

Kristina Hatter: 5' 2"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Amanda Fuller
: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Arion Harris
: 5' 2"; Sophomore

Crystal Hitz
: 5' 7"; Sophomore

Elizabeth Kehm
: 5' 4"; Freshman

Kristina Hatter
: 5' 2"; Freshman