March 28, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 23 Penn State men's tennis team won a tight-match, 4-3, against No. 10 Illinois on Friday. The Nittany Lions lost the doubles point, but won three singles matches. Penn State improved to 16-2, 3-1 in the Big Ten. The Illini fell to 13-6 overall and 3-1 in conference play.
The Illini originally won the match, 4-3, but Penn State protested the result of the match to the Big Ten and the match result has been overturned. The Big Ten overturned the match after Penn State filed a lineup protest regarding the No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions. As a result of the conference's decision, the No. 2 singles point has been awarded to Penn State to result in a 4-3 match victory. While the team result was changed, all individual match results will be maintained.
"This was one of those matches in the Big Ten that you wish you had a second chance at, there were just so many ebbs and flows to this match," said Head Coach Jeff Zinn. "I really thought we were going to win that last match. Being up a set, I thought the momentum would take us through it. Credit to the Illinois guy, he fought hard, he came back and won a really good match. It's hard to have a freshman in that situation like we did, but that's why he came here to be in big situations."
Illinois won the doubles point. It snapped a 14-match streak for Penn State. The Nittany Lions dropped the doubles match for only the second time this spring.
Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) and Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine), ranked 28th in the ITA Poll, matched up against the Illini's Ross Guignon and Tim Kopinski, ranked 3rd in the nation. In a tough back-and-forth set, the Penn State duo tied the match up at 6-6 and 7-7, but the Illini won the tiebreaker, 7-3, to take the match and clinch the doubles point. Bader and Stakhovsky are now 11-4 this spring.
In the No. 3 doubles match, David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) and Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) took on Illinois' Blake Bazarnik and Alex Jesse. The Illini duo won the match, 8-3.
"I thought today, doubles was going to be a key point and it was," said Zinn. "It was the first doubles match we've lost in a long time. It was our first time playing outside since spring break. It wasn't the greatest tennis outside before the rain came, but I felt that we adjusted pretty well. We started to make a comeback in singles outside and that translated when we came indoors."
Junior Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) and Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) competed in the second doubles match against Illinois' Farris Gosea and Jared Hiltzik. The Penn State duo, ranked 54th in the doubles poll, were trailing 5-4 when the match was stopped.
Stakhovsky, ranked 50th in the ITA Singles Poll, matched up against a ranked opponent for the seventh time this spring. This time, he faced Jared Hiltzik, ranked 9th in the nation. Stakhovsky won the first set, 6-2, and followed that up with another 6-2 win in the second set. The sophomore improved to 14-2 this spring and 5-2 against ranked opponents.
Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) earned his 11th win of the spring with a 6-3, 6-2 sweep against the Illini's Guignon. The sophomore improved to 20-6 overall.
Sophomore Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) met Illinois' Blake Bazarnik at No. 5 singles. Trkulja dropped the first set, 6-2, but bounced back with a 6-1 victory in the second set. Trkulja then carried his momentum into the third set, winning 6-4. With the win, Trkulja tied up the match score at 3-3. Trkulja improved to 9-8 in dual matches.
Bader took on Farris Gosea, the 23rd ranked player in the nation, at No. 2 singles. Gosea took the match 6-1, 6-1. Bader dropped to 15-3 this spring and snapped a four-match win streak.
Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) matched up against a ranked opponent for the second time this spring, this time facing Tim Kopinski, ranked 42nd. In a tough first set, Fennell forced a 6-6 tiebreaker, but Kopinski won the tiebreaker, 7-3. In another close set, in the second, Kopinski came out on top, 7-5. Fennell fell to 11-7 this spring.
Freshman Marc Collado Castells (Barcelona, Spain) competed at No. 6 singles against the Illini's Julian Childers. In a tough first set, Castells won the tiebreaker, 8-6, to take the set. Childers responded with a 6-0 win in the second set. In the deciding set, Childers came out on top, 6-3, to clinch the match point for Illinois.
"Great effort by our team today, inching back to a possible upset against No. 9 Illinois," said Assistant Coach Paul Tobin. "Tied at 3-3, Marc almost came back after splitting the first two sets, but both players started getting tired and Illinois closed it out. We showed again today that we can really compete in the Big Ten this year."
The Nittany Lions return to action on Sunday at Noon against No. 28 Northwestern. Please check back to GoPSUSports.com for coverage of the Penn State men's tennis team. Updates are also available on our Facebook, Penn State Men's Tennis, and Twitter, @pennstateMTEN, pages.
Doubles:
1. #3 Guignon/Kopinski(Ill) def. #28 Bader/Stakhovsky(PSU), 8-7(3).
2. Reilly/Young(PSU) vs. Gosea/Hiltzik(Ill), 4-5, unfinished.
3. Bazarnik/Jesse(Ill) def. Kohan/Lutschaunig(PSU), 8-3.
Order of Finish:3,1
Singles:
1. #50 Leo Stakhovsky(PSU) def. #9 Jared Hiltzik(Ill), 6-2, 6-2.
2. #23 Farris Gosea(Ill) def. Russell Bader(PSU), 6-1, 6-1. Point has been awarded to Penn State.
3. #42 Tim Kopinski(Ill) def. Alex Fennell(PSU), 7-6(3), 7-5.
4. Matt Barry(PSU) def. Ross Guignon(Ill), 6-3, 6-2.
5. Roman Trkulja(PSU) def. Blake Bazarnik(Ill), 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.
6. Julian Childers(Ill) def. Marc Collado Castells(PSU), 6-7(6), 6-0, 6-3.
Order of Finish: 1,2,4,3,5,6