March 21, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 27 Penn State men's tennis team knocked off Michigan State, 4-3, on Friday at the Indoor Tennis Center. The Nittany Lions improved to 14-2 this spring and 1-1 in Big Ten play. Penn State clinched the doubles point and claimed three singles matches. Michigan State fell to 6-9 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten.
"This was a hard-fought match and win for us. It was a long match and we kept battling," said Head Coach Jeff Zinn. "Every Big Ten match is going to be like this, but we're a good team and we'll keep fighting. That's what got us to 14-2. "
Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) and Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) took on Michigan State's Drew Lied and John Patrick Mullane at No. 1 doubles. Bader and Stakhovsky, the 45th-ranked doubles team in the ITA Poll, rallied from down 3-0 to earn an 8-5 win. The duo improved to 10-3 this spring.
Sophomore David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) and Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) picked up their fifth-straight win with a tough 8-7(5) victory over the Spartans' Aaron Pfister and Brett Forman. After a back and forth set, Pfister and Forman forced a tiebreaker, but Kohan and Lutschaunig came out on top, 7-5, to win the set and clinch the doubles point for the Nittany Lions. They are now 11-2 this spring.
Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) and Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) combined at No. 2 doubles against Gijs Linders and Harry Jadun. The Michigan State pair was leading 6-4 when the match was stopped.
Penn State has now earned the doubles point in 15 of their 16 matches.
In his third start of the season, Kohan matched up against Michigan State's Mac Roy at the No. 6 singles spot. Roy won a tough first set, 7-5. In a back-and-forth second set, Kohan forced a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Kohan earned a 7-2 win. In the third set, Kohan took an early 3-0 lead and finished the set with a 6-3 win. With the win, Kohan clinched the match for Penn State. The sophomore improved to 3-0 this spring and 11-8 overall.
"I was really proud of David today. He has not gotten to play much this spring but he really came through for us today," said Zinn. "He rallied back after that first set and being down early in the second set. It was great to see him fight back and come out with the win."
Stakhovsky, ranked 47th in the ITA Singles Poll, faced the Spartans' Lied in the top singles matchup. The sophomore won a close first set, 7-5, and then followed that up with a 6-4 win in the second set. Stakhovsky improved to 12-2 this spring.
Bader took on Michigan State's Pfister at No. 2 singles. Bader used quick work in the first set to take it 6-0. The second set went to a tiebreaker at 6-6, but Pfister won 7-4 to take that set. Bader came out on top, 6-4, in a back-and-forth set third set to move to 14-2 this spring.
Bader, 88 career wins, is now two victories behind Ryan Berger (2003-07) for fifth-place on the all-time wins list at Penn State.
Freshman Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) matched up against the Spartans' John Patrick Mullane in the third singles spot. Mullane won a tough first set, 7-6(4), but Fennell bounced back with a 6-2 victory in the second set. In the deciding set, Mullane came out on top, 6-3. Fennell dropped to 11-5 in dual matches.
In the No. 4 singles matchup, sophomore Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) competed against Michigan State's Brett Forman. In the first set, Barry rallied from down 5-1 to tie it at 5-5, but Forman was able to recover and take the set, 7-5. In the second set, Barry led 5-4, but Forman took the next three games to win the set, 7-5. Barry snapped a three-match win streak and is now 9-2 this spring.
Matching up at No. 5 singles were Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) and the Spartans' Gijs Linders. Michigan State took a tough first set, 7-6(6), but Trkulja came back with a 6-4 win in the second set. In the deciding set, Linders won 6-3. Trkulja dropped to 7-8 in dual matches.
"Michigan State came out strong in singles and even surprised us at a few spots. We scouted them well and did not think they would push us in certain spots," said Assistant Coach Paul Tobin. "Our doubles teams played really well again and took the pressure off of the singles guys. Great job by David to pull out that clutch win after being down a set and trailing 4-1 in the second."
The Nittany Lions travel on Sunday to No. 44 Michigan to take on the Wolverines. The match begins at Noon.
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Doubles:
1. #45 Bader/Stakhovsky(PSU) def. Lied/Mullane(MSU), 8-5.
2. Reilly/Young(PSU) vs. Jadun/Linders(MSU), 4-6, unfinished.
3. Kohan/Lutschaunig(PSU) def. Forman/Pfister(MSU), 8-7(5).
Order of Finish:1,3
Singles:
1. #47 Leo Stakhovsky(PSU) def. Drew Lied(MSU), 7-5, 6-4.
2. Russell Bader(PSU) def. Aaron Pfister(MSU), 6-0, 6-7(4), 6-4.
3. John Patrick Mullane(MSU) def. Alex Fennell(PSU), 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3.
4. Brett Forman(MSU) def. Matt Barry(PSU), 7-5, 7-5.
5. Gijs Linders(MSU) def. Roman Trkulja(PSU), 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3.
6. David Kohan(PSU) def. Mac Roy(MSU), 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-3.
Order of Finish: 2,1,4,3,5,6