Feb. 18, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team moved up 15 spots this week in the latest ITA Poll. The Nittany Lions are now ranked 43rd after improving to 9-0 this past weekend.
It is the highest Penn State has been ranked since March 2, 2010, when they were ranked 42nd.
Penn State is one of 11 Big Ten schools represented in the ITA Top 75. Thirteen of Penn State's last 16 matches are against ranked opponents.
Penn State beat then-No. 33 VCU, 4-1, on Sunday to match the best start in school history, set by the 1992 squad.
The Nittany Lions topped a Top 40 opponent for the second time this season. They also defeated then- No. 33 Virginia Tech, 4-3, this spring.
It is the first time since 2008 that Penn State has knocked off two Top 40 opponents in the same season.
The Nittany Lions were aided Sunday by winning the doubles point and getting victories in the top three singles spots.
Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) improved to 8-0 this spring with a win over #73 Alexis Heugas.
Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) won his 12th straight match, dating back to the fall. He leads the team with nine wins this spring and 16 wins overall. He now has 83 career wins to tie for seventh all-time at Penn State. He also got his 69th career doubles win on Sunday, tying him for fourth all-time in school history.
Freshman Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) defeated VCU's Michal Voscek to clinch the match point for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions take on Penn(1-3) this Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Indoor Tennis Center.
For updates on the Penn State men's tennis team, check back to GoPSUSports.com. Updates are also available on our Facebook, Penn State Men's Tennis, and Twitter, @pennstateMTEN, pages.