UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With a win at No. 1 singles, Towson University women's tennis senior Nicole Shakhnazarova pulled the Tigers within one, but a victory by Penn State at No. 5 singles sealed a 4-3 victory for the Nittany Lions on Friday at the Indoor Tennis Center.

"Tonight's match was bittersweet," said head coach Jamie Peterson. "We put ourselves in a position to beat a member of the Big Ten Conference by believing in ourselves, playing very solid tennis and showing great team energy. We were just a few points from a huge win for Towson tennis."

Starting with doubles, the match was tied at one apiece after a 6-3 victory at No. 3 by the tandem of senior Lucy Williams and junior Yevgeniya Shusterman. However, Penn State pulled out a 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles to take a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers trailed 3-1 after Williams earned a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Shannon Hanley at No. 2 singles before Shakhnazarova defeated Gabby O'Gorman, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6.

However, the Nittany Lions sealed the match when freshman Olivia Rohrbacher beat freshman Alexa Martinez at No. 5 singles, 6-1, 6-0.

"Credit to Towson, I felt like they competed really well," said Penn State head coach Chris Cagle.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday when they host Mount St. Mary's at Baltimore Fitness & Tennis beginning at 8 p.m. Prior to the match at 7:45 p.m., the team will honor Sol Schwartz, a Baltimore native and former men's and women's tennis coach and student-athlete at UMBC who passed away in March 2016 at the age of 46.

Schwartz formed an online petition to save faltering tennis programs around the country called #SaveCollegeTennis. In his honor, donations for ParentingAces will be accepted at the match.