Feb. 9, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 58 Penn State men's tennis team knocked off Binghamton(2-3), 6-1, in the first match of their Sunday doubleheader at the Indoor Tennis Center. The Nittany Lions claimed the doubles point and won five of the six singles matches. In the second match against Lehigh(4-1), Penn State swept the doubles action and won at all six singles spots to earn a 7-0 victory.
The Nittany Lions are 8-0 for the first time since 1992, when the team began the season with nine-straight wins.
Penn State picked up four wins this weekend, with Sunday's adding to their wins over UMBC, 7-0, and Bucknell, 7-0, on Saturday.
Sophomore Leo Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) earned his sixth win of the spring with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Binghamton's Robin Lesage in his first match of the day. In his second match, against Lehigh's Ben Gilman, Stakhovsky improved to 7-0 with a 6-3, 6-3 straight-set win.
Senior Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) matched up against Binghamton's Ismael Dinia in the second singles spot. Bader earned a 6-0, 6-1 sweep. In his next match, Bader took on Lehigh's Mitchell Petersen. Bader again got a sweep, winning 6-1, 6-2. With the win, Bader earned career victory number 82 to put him one behind Colin Smeeton(1994-98) for eighth all-time at Penn State. Bader improved to 8-0 this spring and 15-4 overall.
Freshman Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) improved to 9-5 with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Binghamton's Elliott Hureau. Fennell's win clinched the fourth match point and the win for the Nittany Lions. Fennell faced Lehigh's Tyler Hansen in his second match of the day, Fennell again clinched the match for Penn State. The freshman knocked off Hansen, 6-1, 6-4. Fennell is now 6-2 this spring and 10-5 overall.
Freshman Marc Collado Castells (Barcelona, Spain) took on Binghamton's Sid Hazarika. The Barcelona native also earned a sweep, winning 6-3, 6-2. Castells matched up against Lehigh's Ethan Bogard in his second match. The freshman collected his seventh win of the spring and 15th overall with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Bogard.
Junior Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) got the start at No. 6 singles against Binghamton's Thomas Caputo. Reilly won the first set, 6-3. In the second set, Reilly came back from down 5-3 to take the set, 7-5. With the win, Reilly improved to 2-2 this spring and 10-6 overall.
Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) competed against Binghamton's Alexander Maisin. In the first set, Maisin got a 6-3 win. In a back-and-forth second set, Trkulja led 5-4, but Maisin took the next three games to win the set and the match. In his second match, against Lehigh's Timur Chernykh, Trkulja bounced back with a 6-1, 6-4 victory to pick up his fifth win of the spring.
David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) got the start at the sixth singles against Lehigh's Jason Sutker. The sophomore earned a straight-set win, 6-1, 6-1, for his first win of the spring.
Kohan and Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) got the start at No. 3 doubles against Binghamton's Hazarika and Hureau. The Penn State duo won their eighth consecutive match, defeating Binghamton's pair, 8-3. That win clinched the doubles point for the Nittany Lions. The duo took on Lehigh's No. 1 doubles team, Peterson and Mark Goldberg, in their second match. The Penn State pair battled through a back-and-forth match to come out on top, 8-5. The duo is now 5-0 this spring and 9-0 overall.
Bader and Stakhovsky combined at the top doubles spot for an 8-2 victory against Binghamton's Dinia and Lesage.
Reilly and Trkulja paired up at the second doubles spot, but fell 8-5 to Binghamton's Maisin and Aswin Nambi.
Bader and Reilly teamed up to claim an 8-5 victory against Lehigh's Gilman and Jeremy Kochman. With that win, Bader picked up his 68th career doubles win. That moved him past Michael Carter(1993-97) and Marc Dorfman(1995-00). Bader is now in a four-way tie for fifth place with Ryan Berger(2003-07), Ryan Gormley(2006-10) and Malcolm Scatliffe(2002-06).
Junior Ramy Labna (Doha, Qatar) and senior Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) combined against Lehigh's Chernykh and Hansen. The pair earned a dominant 8-1 win to clinch the doubles point for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions return to action next Sunday, February 16, when they welcome #33 VCU.
For updates on the Penn State men's tennis team, check back to GoPSUSports.com. Fans can also look for updates on our Facebook, Penn State Men's Tennis, and Twitter, @pennstateMTEN, pages.
#58 Penn State vs. Binghamton
Doubles:
1. Bader/Stakhovsky(PSU) def. Dinia/Lesage(Bing), 8-2.
2. Nambi/Maisin(Bing) def. Reilly/Trkulja(PSU), 8-5.
3. Kohan/Lutschaunig(PSU) def. Hazarika/Hureau(Bing), 8-3.
Order of Finish: 1,3,2
Singles:
1. Leo Stakhovsky(PSU) def. Robin Lesage(Bing), 6-0, 6-3.
2. Russell Bader(PSU) def. Ismael Dinia(Bing), 6-0, 6-1.
3. Alex Fennell(PSU) def. Elliot Hureau(Bing), 6-2, 6-1.
4. Alexander Maisin(Bing) def. Roman Trkulja(PSU), 6-3, 7-5.
5. Marc Collado Castells(PSU) def. Sid Hazarika(Bing), 6-3, 6-2.
6. Michael Reilly(PSU) def. Thomas Caputo(Bing), 6-3, 7-5.
Order of Finish: 1,2,3,4,5,6
#58 Penn State vs. Lehigh
Doubles:
1. Kohan/Lutschaunig(PSU) def. Goldberg/Petersen(Lehigh), 8-5.
2. Bader/Reilly(PSU) def. Gilman/Kochman(Lehigh), 8-5.
3. Labna/Young(PSU) def. Chernykh/Hansen(Lehigh), 8-1.
Order of Finish: 2,3,1
Singles:
1. Leo Stakhovsky(PSU) def. Ben Gilman(Lehigh), 6-3, 6-3.
2. Russell Bader(PSU) def. Mitchell Petersen(Lehigh), 6-1, 6-2.
3. Alex Fennell(PSU) def. Tyler Hansen(Lehigh), 6-1, 6-4.
4. Roman Trkulja(PSU) def. Timur Chernykh(Lehigh), 6-0, 6-2.
5. Marc Collado Castells(PSU) def. Ethan Bogard(Lehigh), 6-3, 6-3.
6. David Kohan(PSU) def. Jason Sutker(Lehigh), 6-1, 6-1.
Order of Finish: 2,4,3,1,6,5