April 18, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team finishes their regular season and Big Ten schedule this weekend as they take on #26 Michigan and #45 Michigan State. The Nittany Lions face Michigan at 3 p.m. ET on Friday and then travel to Michigan State for a Noon ET start on Sunday. Penn State enters the weekend 8-14 and 2-7 in the Big Ten.
Last weekend, Penn State fell 5-2 against #34 Northwestern on Friday and 7-0 against #29 Illinois on Sunday. Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) and Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) earned wins against the Wildcats.
Friday's match against Michigan will be the last home match for seniors Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas), Guanhua Chen (DaLian, China), and C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.). The seniors will be honored between the singles and doubles matches.
Bader is now 15-7 this spring, including 6-3 in Big Ten play. He has won seven of his last ten matches. He is 2-1 since moving up to the number one singles spot. Hanzlik begins the weekend with a 13-9 mark. He also holds a record of 4-5 in conference play. He has faced six nationally ranked opponents this spring.
Freshman Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) is 11-7 this spring and 23-13 overall. He enters the weekend with a mark of 3-5 in the Big Ten. Barry is four wins off of tying for sixth all-time on the single season wins list at Penn State.
Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) has eight wins this spring, including two in the Big Ten.
Michigan comes to Happy Valley with a 13-7 record, including 8-1 in the Big Ten. The Wolverines, ranked 26th in the ITA Poll, can challenge for the Big Ten regular season title on Sunday against #5 Ohio State if they win on Friday.
Last weekend, Michigan knocked off #60 Nebraska 5-2 on Friday and Iowa 7-0 on Sunday. Evan King leads the Wolverines with a record of 19-1 this spring, including a perfect 9-0 mark in the Big Ten. King is ranked tenth in the nation and is 10-0 against ranked opponents this spring.
Vlad Stefan joins King in the ITA rankings, coming in at #108. Stefan is 13-20 this spring and 4-3 in the Big Ten.
Barrett Franks enters the weekend with a 16-2 mark, including 8-0 in conference play. Alex Buzzi is 9-2 this spring and 8-1 in the Big Ten.
King and Buzzi have paired up to go 5-1 this spring, including 4-1 in Big Ten play. The duo is ranked 44th in the nation.
Michigan State enters the weekend ranked 45th in the nation and holds a 12-11 record, 5-4 in the Big Ten.
Last weekend, the Spartans went 3-0 last weekend. On Friday, they defeated Iowa 5-2. On Sunday, they topped #60 Nebraska 5-2 and Nebraska-Omaha 5-2.
Aaron Pfister has twelve wins out of the number one singles spot, including five in the Big Ten. Michigan State's number two spot is held by Drew Lied, who is 7-2 in conference play.
Gijs Linders leads the Spartans with 16 wins this spring, six in Big Ten play. John Patrick Mullane has a mark of 15-5 mark, including 7-2 in conference.
Lied and Mullane have combined to go 10-1 in doubles, including 6-1 in conference play.
Live scoring for the match is available at http://www.gopsusports.com/livestats/c-tennis/xlive.htm.
Fans can also follow the action on our Facebook, Penn State Men's Tennis, and Twitter, @pennstateMTEN, pages.