April 6, 2014
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The No. 24 Penn State men's tennis team completed a 2-0 weekend with a 4-1 victory over No. 51 Minnesota on Sunday at the Baseline Tennis Center. The Nittany Lions extended their current win streak to six matches in Big Ten play and eight straight wins overall. They clinched the doubles point and won three singles matches. The Blue and White improved to 19-2 overall and 6-1 in conference play. Minnesota dropped to 9-10 overall and 3-3 in the Big Ten.
The Nittany Lions tied a program-high with 19 wins in a season, equaling the win total from 1984.
Penn State also set a new program mark of nine wins over Top 75 opponents, bettering the eight wins by the 2008 team.
The Nittany Lions picked up their fifth road win in dual matches, all of which came against ranked opponents.
"I think we played really well on the road, this was a super difficult road trip, playing two great teams in Wisconsin and Minnesota," said Head Coach Jeff Zinn. "We feel good that we got through it with two wins. We battled hard today. The players were a little tired, but we pulled through and that shows the resiliency of this team."
"I would also like to thank the Penn State fans that came out to the match to support us. It's great to have that kind of support on the road. Our fans are starting to travel more and I know the guys really appreciate that."
Penn State continued their success in doubles this spring, clinching the doubles point for the 19th time in 21 matches.
Junior Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) and senior Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia), ranked 54th in the nation, remained undefeated at the No. 2 doubles spot. The duo earned an 8-2 win against the Gophers' Franz Sydow and Juan Pablo Ramirez. They improved to 12-0 this spring.
At the No. 3 doubles spot, sophomores Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) and Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) paired up again, this time facing Minnesota's Mathieu Froment and Ruben Weber. The Penn State pair trailed 3-1 and 4-2 early in the set, but rallied back for an 8-5 victory to clinch the point for the Nittany Lions. Barry and Trkulja moved to 2-0 this spring and 6-0 overall.
Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) and Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine), ranked 28th in the nation, met Minnesota's Leandro Toledo and Eric Frueh. The match was stopped after Penn State clinched the point. It was tied 7-7 and in a tiebreaker when the match was suspended.
"Our doubles are looking really solid right now," said Zinn. "With undefeated teams at 2 and 3 and our team at 1 always comes out strong. We feel really confident in that going into the final four matches of the regular season."
Bader matched up at No. 2 singles against Minnesota's Weber. The senior won the first set, 6-3, but Weber responded with a 6-1 win in the second set. In the deciding set, Bader won 6-3 to clinch the victory. Bader's win also clinched the match point for Penn State. He improved to 17-4 this spring and 24-8 overall.
With his win, Bader moved into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time wins list at Penn State, passing Ryan Berger(2003-07). Bader now has 91 career wins, one behind Mark Barry (2002-06) for fourth place.
At the No. 4 singles position, Barry faced the Gophers' Frueh. The sophomore picked up a 6-2, 6-1 win to improve to 14-2 this spring and 23-6 overall. He has now won five straight matches.
Fellow sophomore Trkulja competed at No. 5 singles against Minnesota's Sydow. The Toronto native took the first set, 6-4, and kept his momentum going for a 6-2 win in the second set. Trkulja improved to 11-9 this spring and won both of his matches this weekend.
Stakhovsky, ranked 50th in the ITA Poll, met his ninth ranked opponent of the spring, this time taking on Leandro Toledo, ranked 66th. The Minnesota junior won the first set, 6-2, and followed that up with a 6-4 win in the second set. Stakhovsky dropped to 15-4 in dual matches.
Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) got the start again at No. 3 singles for Penn State, matching up against Mathieu Froment. The freshman dropped his first set, 6-1, but battled back in his second set to force and win a tiebreaker, 7-6(3). Fennell was trailing 2-1 in the third set when his match was stopped.
Freshman Marc Collado Castells (Barcelona, Spain) competed at the sixth singles position against the Gophers' Ramirez. In a back-and-forth first set, Ramirez came out on top in the tiebreaker, 7-6(3). However, Castells bounced back with a 6-0 win in the second set. In the final set, Castells was down 4-3 when the match was suspended.
"This was a huge win for this team and great road trip to pick up two Big Ten wins. It's a tough conference to play in on the road," said Assistant Coach Paul Tobin. "We played well in doubles again against a very strong Minnesota team and we were able to pick up the other three points. We still have four matches to close out the regular season, including another tough road trip next weekend at Purdue and Indiana."
The Nittany Lions finish up their Big Ten road schedule next weekend with a trip to No. 33 Purdue on Friday for a 1 p.m. start. On Sunday, they travel to No. 69 Indiana for a Noon match.
Please check back to GoPSUSports.com throughout the week for more 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. #28 Bader/Stakhovsky(PSU) vs. Frueh/Toledo(Minn), 7-7, unfinished.
2. #54 Reilly/Young(PSU) def. Sydow/Pablo Ramirez(Minn), 8-2.
3. Barry/Trkulja(PSU) def. Froment/Weber(Minn), 8-5.
Order of Finish: 2,3
Singles:
1. #66 Leandro Toledo(Minn) def. #50 Leo Stakhovsky(PSU), 6-2, 6-4.
2. Russell Bader(PSU) def. Ruben Weber(Minn), 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.
3. Alex Fennell(PSU) vs. Mathieu Froment(Minn), 1-6, 7-6(3), 1-2, unfinished.
4. Matt Barry(PSU) def. Eric Frueh(Minn), 6-2, 6-1.
5. Roman Trkulja(PSU) def. Franz Sydow(Minn), 6-4, 6-2.
6. Marc Collado Castells(PSU) vs. Juan Pablo Ramirez(Minn), 6-7(3), 6-0, 3-4, unfinished.
Order of Finish: 1,4,5,2