March 7, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 31 Penn State men's tennis team heads to No. 50 Princeton on Saturday to take on the Tigers. The match begins at 11 a.m. at Princeton's Jadwin Gym.
The Nittany Lions are 10-1 this spring and moved up to 31st in the ITA Poll this week. It marks the highest ranking in school history, bettering the previous mark of 34.
Penn State moved up despite suffering their first loss of the season last Sunday against No. 1 Ohio State. The Nittany Lions fell, 5-2, but won the doubles point, including defeating the Buckeyes' top doubles pair, and got a win from freshman Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.).
Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) and Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) combined to knock off Ohio State's top doubles team, Peter Kobelt and Kevin Metka, ranked third in the nation. The Penn State pair won 8-6. They are 8-2 entering this weekend and have won seven straight matches.
With the win, Bader passed Adam Slagter(2005-09) for sole possession of third place on Penn State's all-time doubles list. Bader now has 71 career wins.
Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) and Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) also picked up a doubles win to clinch the point for Penn State. They are 5-0 this spring.
Penn State's third doubles pair, David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) and Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.), are 6-2 in dual matches and 10-2 overall.
Penn State has won the doubles point in 10 of their 11 matches this spring.
In singles, Stakhovsky dropped his first match of the spring, but he is 9-1 and ranked 50th in the ITA Poll. He has two wins over ranked opponents this season.
Bader also fell for the first time this spring. He is now 10-1 this spring and 17-5 overall. He is two wins behind Mike Griesser(1995-99) for sixth place on the all-time singles wins list.
Fennell earned his eighth straight win in last Sunday's match. He is now 9-2 this spring and 13-5 overall.
Fellow freshman Marc Collado Castells (Barcelona, Spain) has seven wins this spring, while Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) has six and Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) has five.
Princeton is 8-4 this spring. They knocked off No. 56 Buffalo, 4-3, and Stony Brook, 7-0, last weekend.
They take on No. 61 Denver on Friday before facing the Nittany Lions.
The Tigers are led by Zack McCourt, ranked 108th, who is 6-2 in the top singles spot.
Joshua Yablon is 8-4 this spring, while Augie Bloom and Thomas Colautti have seven wins each.
In doubles, Bloom and Dan Davies are 8-4 this spring. Colautti and Yablon are 7-3, while competing in the third doubles spot.
For updates on the match, check back to GoPSUSports.com. Updates are also available on our Facebook, Penn State Men's Tennis, and Twitter, @pennstateMTEN, pages.