April 7, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team earned their first Big Ten home win of the season on Sunday against Wisconsin. The Nittany Lions won 4-2, getting four singles wins, including the clinching match by C.J. Griffin. Penn State improved to 8-12 this spring and 2-5 in the Big Ten.
Penn State swept in the top three singles matchups and won the first set in five of the six matches.
Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) got his first start of the year at the number one singles spot and set the tone early for the Nittany Lions. Bader never trailed in either set as he swept Petr Satral 6-3, 6-2. Bader is now 15-6 in dual matches this spring and 6-2 in Big Ten play.
Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) competed in the number two singles spot against Alexander Kostanov. Hanzlik came out on top in a back-and-forth first set, 7-5. Hanzlik cruised to a 6-1 victory in the second set to earn the sweep.
Freshman Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) got his third start of the spring in the number three spot and claimed a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Oskar Wikberg. Barry earned his 23rd win overall and is now four short of tying for sixth all-time in a single season at Penn State.
C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.) started in the fifth spot for the Nittany Lions and earned a big win against Alexander Kokorev. In the first set, Griffin earned a tough 7-5 win in a back-and-forth set. Kokorev came back in the second set with a 6-3 win. Griffin prevailed 6-3 in the third set to clinch the match for Penn State with their fourth point of the day. Griffin went 2-0 this weekend as he also defeated Minnesota's Juan Pablo Ramirez on Friday. He has won three straight matches.
Ramy Labna (Doha, Qatar) got his second straight start in the sixth spot, but Frederik Strabo came out on top 6-3, 6-0.
Freshman Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) started in the fourth spot. He won the first set 6-2 against Jakhongir Jalalov. In the second set, Jalalov responded with a 6-3 win. The third set went unfinished after Penn State clinched the match.
Wisconsin got the first point of the day with two wins in doubles. Jalalov and Wikberg got an 8-2 win over Trkulja and Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia), while Kostanov and Strabo claimed an 8-4 victory over Hanzlik and David Kohan (Sydney, Australia).
Russell Bader and Guanhua Chen (DaLian, China) led the third doubles match 6-3, but it went unfinished after Wisconsin got the doubles point.
The win gives Penn State some momentum heading into a tough road trip next weekend to #29 Northwestern on Friday and #28 Illinois on Sunday.
Doubles:
1. Bader/Chen(PSU) vs. Kokorev/Satral(Wisc), 6-3, unfinished
2. Jalalov/Wikberg(Wisc) def. Trkulja/Young(PSU), 8-2
3. Kostanov/Strabo(Wisc) def. Hanzlik/Kohan(PSU), 8-4
Order of Finish: 2,3
Singles:
1. Russell Bader(PSU) def. Petr Satral(Wisc), 6-3, 6-2
2. Tomas Hanzlik(PSU) def. Alexander Kostanov(Wisc), 7-5, 6-1
3. Matt Barry(PSU) def. Oskar Wikberg(Wisc), 6-3, 6-1
4. Roman Trkulja(PSU) vs. Jakhongir Jalalov(Wisc), 6-2, 3-6, 1-1, unfinished
5. C.J. Griffin(PSU) def. Alexander Kokorev(Wisc), 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
6. Frederik Strabo(Wisc) def. Ramy Labna(PSU), 6-3, 6-0
Order of Finish: 6,1,3,2,5