April 25, 2014
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The No. 24 Penn State men's tennis team fell in the Big Ten Quarterfinals, 4-2, to No. 43 Michigan on Friday at Michigan State's Indoor Tennis Courts. Penn State took the doubles point, but dropped singles matches at No. 1, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6. The Nittany Lions dropped to 21-5 this spring, while Michigan improved to 16-11 and advanced to the Big Ten Semifinals match against No. 12 Illinois.
The Nittany Lions continued their success in doubles, clinching the point for the 23rd time in 26 matches.
In the matchup at the top doubles spot, Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) and Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine), ranked 33rd in the nation, faced Michigan's 32nd-ranked doubles team of Alex Buzzi and Barrett Franks. The Nittany Lions pair earned an 8-5 win to clinch the doubles point. Bader and Stakhovsky earned their fourth win this season over a ranked opponent and defeated Michigan's top doubles team for the second time this spring.
At the No. 2 doubles spot, Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) and Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) took on Michigan's Shaun Bernstein and Kevin Wong. The Penn State duo jumped out to an early 5-0 lead on their way to an 8-2 win. They improved to 14-2 this spring.
Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) and Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) matched up against the Wolverines' Alex Petrone and Michael Zhu at No. 3 doubles. Barry and Trkulja were trailing 6-4 when the match was stopped after the doubles point was clinched.
Bader matched up against Michigan's Bernstein at No. 2 singles. Bader took the first set, 7-6, but dropped the second set, 6-2. In the deciding set, Bader won 6-3 to improve to 20-6 this spring.
With the win, Bader tied Michael Carter(1993-97) for third place on the all-time wins list at Penn State. Bader now has 94 career wins.
Stakhovsky, ranked 37th in the ITA Poll, competed at the top singles spot against Michigan's Alex Petrone, ranked 111th. Petrone earned a straight set win, 6-4, 6-1. Stakhovsky dropped to 17-6 this spring.
At the No. 4 singles spot, Barry matched up against Michigan's Vlad Stefan. Barry held leads of 4-2 and 5-4 in the first, but Stefan came back to force a tiebreaker at 6-6. Stefan won the tiebreaker to take the set. In a back and forth second set, Stefan came out on top, 7-5. Barry is now 16-5 in dual matches.
Trkulja faced the Wolverines' Buzzi at the No. 5 singles position. In a set that was tied 1-1 and 3-3, Buzzi came out with the 6-4 win. Buzzi followed that up with a 6-3 win in the second set. Trkulja fell to 14-11 this spring.
At the sixth singles position, Nika Dolidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) got his third straight start, this time taking on Michigan's Franks. In the first set, Franks won 6-2. Franks clinched the match and the match point for Michigan with his 6-1 win in the second set. Dolidze is now 3-1 this spring.
At the third singles spot, freshman Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) took on the Wolverines' Justin Rossi. In the first set, Fennell earned a 6-2 win. Fennell was trailing 4-3 in the second set when the match was stopped.
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Doubles:
1. #33 Bader/Stakhovsky(PSU) def. #32 Buzzi/Franks(UM), 8-5.
2. Reilly/Young(PSU) def. Bernstein/Wong(UM), 8-2.
3. Barry/Trkulja(PSU) vs. Petrone/Zhu(UM), 4-6, unfinished.
Order of Finish: 2,1
Singles:
1. #111 Alex Petrone(UM) def. #37 Leo Stakhovsky(PSU), 6-4, 6-1.
2. Russell Bader(PSU) vs. Shaun Bernstein(UM), 7-6, 2-6, 6-3.
3. Alex Fennell(PSU) vs. Justin Rossi(UM), 6-2, 3-4, unfinished.
4. Vlad Stefan(UM) def. Matt Barry(PSU), 7-6, 7-5.
5. Alex Buzzi(UM) def. Roman Trkulja(PSU), 6-4, 6-3.
6. Barrett Franks(UM) def. Nika Dolidze(PSU), 6-2, 6-1.
Order of Finish: 1,5,4,2,6