March 8, 2014
PRINCETON, N.J.- The No. 31 Penn State men's tennis team knocked off #50 Princeton, 6-1, on Saturday at Princeton's Jadwin Gym. The Nittany Lions improved to 11-1 this spring while picking up their first road win. Penn State earned the doubles point and got wins at five of the six singles spots. Princeton fell to 9-4 this spring and suffered their first home loss of the spring.
Penn State claimed their third win this season over a Top 50 opponent. They defeated #33 Virginia Tech and #33 VCU earlier this year.
"The final score was not indicative of how close the match really was," said Head Coach Jeff Zinn." It was a tough doubles point that we got, so we kept that momentum going in doubles. Roman played really well to get us on the board first and Russell and Matt did a great job to finish out their second sets. Leo and Alex both picked up really good three set wins."
Sophomore Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine), ranked 50th in the ITA Poll, matched up against another ranked opponent facing Zack McCourt, ranked 108th. Stakhovsky took the first set, 6-2, but McCourt came back with a 6-3 win in the second set. In the final set, Stakhovsky went down 2-0, but rallied back to win 6-4. Stakhovsky moved to 10-1 this spring and earned his third win over a ranked opponent.
Senior Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) faced Thomas Colautti at No. 2 singles. The senior picked up a straight set win, 6-2, 6-4. Bader improved to 11-1 this spring and 18-5 overall.
With the win, Bader earned his 85th career win, moving him one win behind tying Mike Griesser(1995-99) for sixth place all-time at Penn State.
Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) took on Alexander Day at the third singles spot. Fennell won a quick first set, 6-1, but dropped the second set, 6-2. The freshman bounced back to win the third set, 6-4. Fennell has now won nine straight matches and holds a 10-2 mark this spring.
Sophomore Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) met Joshua Yablon at No. 4 singles. Trkulja earned the sweep, 6-1, 6-2. He is now 6-5 this spring and has 14 wins overall.
Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) clinched the fourth point of the match for Penn State with his 6-2, 6-4 victory against Augie Bloom. Barry is 7-1 in dual matches and 16-5 overall.
Freshman Marc Collado Castells (Barcelona, Spain) got the start at the sixth singles spot against Florin Radu. Castells dropped the first set, 6-1, but battled in the second set to force a tiebreaker at 6-6. However, Radu took the tiebreaker to win the match. Castells has a mark of 7-3 this spring.
Sophomore David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) and freshman Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) teamed up at No. 3 doubles against Bloom and Ben Quazzo. The Penn State duo earned an 8-4 win to pick up their seventh win this spring and 11th overall.
Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) and Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) improved to 6-0 this spring at No. 2 doubles as they knocked off Colautti and Yablon 8-7(4). With the win, the duo clinched the doubles point for Penn State. It marks the 11th time, out of 12 matches, the Penn State won the doubles point this spring.
Bader and Stakhovsky combined at the top doubles spot, riding a seven-match win streak. They took on Day and McCourt. Both doubles teams held leads during the set, but the Princeton duo came out on top, 8-7(6) to snap the win streak and avoid the doubles sweep. Bader and Stakhovsky are 8-3 this spring.
"Princeton did a great job of holding their own and pressing us in doubles and at a few singles spots today," said Assistant Coach Paul Tobin. "Playing at Princeton, down in the `pit', is always a challenge and their guys were fired up the entire match."
The Nittany Lions travel to Florida this week for their Spring Break trip. They will take on No. 53 USF at Noon on Tuesday in Tampa. Penn State then heads to Orlando to face #60 Central Florida and Southern Miss in a doubleheader.
"Overall, it was a good team effort today," said Zinn. "South Florida will be a tough match for us on Tuesday. It will be our first match outdoors this spring and they're a good team. We have to be ready for that match."
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Doubles:
1. Day/McCourt(Princeton) def. Bader/Stakhovsky(PSU), 8-7(6).
2. Reilly/Young(PSU) def. Colautti/Yablon(Princeton), 8-7(4).
3. Kohan/Lutschaunig(PSU) def. Bloom/Quazzo(Princeton), 8-4.
Order of Finish: 3,2,1
Singles:
1. #50 Leo Stakhovsky(PSU) def. #108 Zack McCourt(Princeton), 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
2. Russell Bader(PSU) def. Thomas Colautti(Princeton), 6-2, 6-4.
3. Alex Fennell(PSU) def. Alexander Day(Princeton), 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
4. Roman Trkulja(PSU) def. Josh Yablon(Princeton), 6-1, 6-2.
5. Matt Barry(PSU) def. Augie Bloom(Princeton), 6-2, 6-4.
6. Florin Radu(Princeton) def. Marc Collado Castells(PSU), 6-1, 7-6(1).
Order of Finish: 4,2,6,5,3,1