Aug 22, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team has released their 2013-14 schedule. The Nittany Lions will compete in seven fall tournaments. Their spring schedule features 14 home matches, seven against teams that were ranked in 2013. Penn State also faces ten teams that made the NCAA Tournament and five conference champions.
Head Coach Jeff Zinn returns for this third season at the helm of the Nittany Lion program. The team brings back seven members from last year's squad and welcomes seven newcomers. Penn State will look to build on a campaign in which they were ranked for three straight weeks and defeated three teams that were ranked at some point last year.
"We are excited to announce our schedule for the upcoming 2013-14 season." said Zinn, "We will travel to seven fall tournaments that will challenge our guys and prepare them for a tough spring schedule. It will also be a great opportunity for our incoming players to compete and get used to tennis at the college level."
Penn State will kickoff their summer schedule at the Navy All-Conference Tournament, starting on September 27 in Annapolis, Md. While some members of the team are in Annapolis, others will be competing at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. starting on September 28. The All-American Championships feature some of the top talent in the nation.
On October 4-6, the Nittany Lions will be competing at the UVa Fall Classic in Charlottesville, Va., hosted by the University of Virginia. The next weekend, members of the squad will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C. for the Wake Forest Fall Invite.
Penn State will then head to Blacksburg, Va. for the ITA Atlantic Regional, starting on Thursday, October 17. The next week, they travel to the Big Ten Singles Championships in West Lafayette, Ind.
The fall schedule finishes up with a trip to the William & Mary Tribe Invitational in Williamsburg, Va., starting on November 8.
A tough non-conference slate will prepare the Nittany Lions for the rigors of a Big Ten schedule that includes six NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago.
"We put together a great spring schedule that has a good mix of conference champions, NCAA Tournament teams and in-state rivals." Said Zinn. " They all provide a good test that will prepare us for another tough Big Ten schedule that includes six tournament teams from last year."
William & Mary travels to Penn State to kickoff the spring schedule on Friday, January 24. Penn State beat The Tribe 6-1 in Williamsburg last year. The Tribe reached the CAA Conference Championship in 2013. The Nittany Lions also host St. John's that weekend on Sunday. St. John's reached as high as 56th in the ITA Poll. Penn State is 2-0 all-time against the Red Storm.
The Penn State non-conference feature will include three doubleheaders, with the first match starting at 11 a.m. and the second match beginning at approximately 5 p.m. The first of these doubleheaders, on Sunday, February 2, features Virginia Tech and Cleveland State. Virginia Tech finished 39th in the ITA Poll last season. Penn State is 6-9 all-time against the Hokies, who fell in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last spring. Andres Bjerrehus and Amerigo Contini were both ranked in singles last year for Virginia Tech. Cleveland State reached the NCAA Tournament by winning the Horizon League title.
The second doubleheader will take place on Saturday, February 8 and include matches against UMBC and Bucknell. Penn State will meet their in-state rival for the 84th time in program history.
The third doubleheader will be on Sunday, February 9 against Binghamton and Lehigh. The Nittany Lions knocked off Lehigh 7-0 last year at the Indoor Tennis Center.Binghamton won the America East conference for the sixth straight time last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time in eleven years. Lehigh also reached the tourney by winning the Patriot League title.
The non-conference slate continues on Saturday, February 15 for a match in Philadelphia against Penn. The Nittany Lions return home the next day for a match against VCU, who finished 30th in the final ITA Poll, won the Atlantic 10 Championship and reached the NCAA Tournament. Penn State last met Penn in 1997, when the Nittany Lions defeated the Quakers 4-3. Penn leads the all-time series 32-12.
The non-conference schedule finishes with a Saturday, March 8 match at Princeton and a spring break trip to Florida for matches at South Florida on Tuesday, March 11 and at Central Florida on March 13. South Florida was ranked 74th at the end of last season. In the last meeting against Princeton, the Nittany Lions knocked off the 63rd ranked team, 4-3. Penn State is 1-1 against USF and 1-0 against UCF.
The Big Ten conference will be strong again this season after ten members finished the year ranked. The highest ranked team, Ohio State at number four, will host Penn State on Sunday, March 2 to start the Big Ten schedule. Penn State will look to snap Ohio State's 169-match win streak at home. Ohio State was eliminated in the NCAA Semifinals last year against UCLA.
Penn State will take on Michigan State in the Big Ten home opener on Friday, March 21. Penn State is 19-11 all-time against the Spartans. The Nittany Lions will also host Big Ten foes Illinois, Northwestern, Nebraska, and Iowa. Michigan State, Illinois, Northwestern, and Nebraska all finished ranked last year.
Penn State will visit Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Purdue, and Indiana in Big Ten matchups. All five opponents were ranked in the final ITA Poll. Michigan and Minnesota competed in the NCAA Tournament last spring. Penn State knocked off Wisconsin, 4-2, at the Sarni Tennis Center last year.
For the complete schedule, please visit the men's tennis schedule page.
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