Jan. 24, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team knocked off William & Mary, 5-2, on Friday at the Indoor Tennis Center in their season opener. The Nittany Lions clinched the doubles point by getting wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Russell Bader, Matt Barry, Leonard Stakhovsky and Roman Trkulja all earned singles wins for Penn State. The Nittany Lions are 1-0, while The Tribe dropped to 2-3.
"For our first match, I thought we played really well," said Head Coach Jeff Zinn. "William & Mary is a really good team and already played four matches before today. It was good for us to get the doubles point today. We have been practicing really hard with our doubles teams and it was good to see that hard work pay off."
Senior Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) came out on top in a tough battle at No. 2 singles. The senior dropped the first set, 6-5(5) against Ben Guthrie. However, Bader came back with a 6-1 win in the second set. A back-and-forth third set saw Bader trailing 5-4, but the Texas native rallied back to tie the set at 5-5 before clinching it by winning the tiebreaker, 6-5(4).
Sophomore Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) made his Penn State debut as he competed at No. 1 singles. The Oklahoma transfer impressed with a 6-4, 6-4 sweep over Ben Hoogland to give the Nittany Lions a 2-1 edge.
"It was good to see Leo get a win in his first match after sitting out the fall. He beat a very good player in Ben Hoogland. We look forward to seeing what Leo can do this spring," said Zinn.
Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) earned the win at No. 4 singles. The sophomore earned a straight-set win, 6-4, 6-2, against Addison Appleby. Trkulja improved his record to 9-4 this year.
Sophomore Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) claimed his first win of the spring. He defeated John Banks in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 6 singles. Barry improved to 10-4 this year.
Freshman Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) got the start at No. 3 singles against Will Juggins. However, Juggins took the match, 6-3, 6-3. Fennell is now 4-4 on the year.
Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) competed at No. 5 singles. The junior dropped the first set, 6-2, against Damon Niquet. Reilly battled hard in a tough second set, but fell 6-5(3).
Matt Barry and Alex Fennell combined at No. 3 doubles. The duo pulled out a tough 6-5(4) victory over John Banks and Ben Hoogland. It was the first time this year that Barry and Fennell teamed up.
At No. 2 doubles, Michael Reilly and Roman Trkulja clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win over Ben Guthrie and Damon Niquet. The duo improved to 5-3 this year.
Russell Bader and Leonard Stakhovsky combined for the first time this year at No. 1 doubles. However, they fell 6-4 against Aaron Chaffee and Will Juggins.
Penn State returns to action on Sunday at noon against St. John's.
William & Mary will take on St. John's on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Indoor Tennis Center.
Fans can follow the action on GoPSUSports.com as well as on our Facebook, Penn State Men's Tennis, and Twitter, @pennstateMTEN, pages.
Doubles:
1. Chaffee/Juggins(W&M) def. Bader/Stakhovsky(PSU), 6-4.
2. Reilly/Trkulja(PSU) def. Guthrie/Niquet(W&M), 6-4.
3. Barry/Fennell(PSU) def. Banks/Hoogland(W&M), 6-5(4).
Order of Finish: 1,3,2
Singles:
1. Leonard Stakhovsky(PSU) def. Ben Hoogland(W&M), 6-4, 6-4.
2. Russell Bader(PSU) def. Ben Guthrie(W&M), 5-6(5), 6-1, 6-5(4).
3. Will Juggins(W&M) def. Alex Fennell(PSU), 6-3, 6-3.
4. Roman Trkulja(PSU) def. Addison Appleby(W&M), 6-4, 6-2.
5. Damon Niquet(W&M) def. Michael Reilly(PSU), 6-2, 6-5(3).
6. Matt Barry(PSU) def. John Banks(W&M), 6-2, 6-1.
Order of Finish: 1,3,4,2,6,5