May 1, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team moved up one spot to 23rd in this week's ITA Poll, released Thursday. The Nittany Lions are 21-5 and earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament, where they will take on No. 50 UNC Wilmington in the first round.
Sophomore Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) remained ranked 37th in the ITA Singles Poll. On Wednesday, he was selected to the NCAA Singles Tournament, played May 21-26 in Athens, Ga.
Stakhovsky and senior Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) moved up seven spots in the ITA Doubles Poll to a season-high ranking of 26th. They were selected for the NCAA Doubles Tournament.
Penn State, led by Head Coach Jeff Zinn, posted program-high totals this year for wins(21), Big Ten wins(8) and wins against ranked opponents(10).
The Nittany Lions earned the sixth NCAA Tournament berth in program history. They were sent to the Charlottesville Regional, hosted by Virginia, where they will take on the Seahawks, the CAA champions. Penn State will play UNC Wilmington at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 10, with the winner advancing to play the winner of the Virginia-Army match at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Stakhovsky is 17-6 this spring with seven wins against ranked opponents, including three against Top 40 opponents. He was chosen to go to the NCAA Singles Tournament as one of the Top 64 players in the nation.
Bader and Stakhovsky are 17-5 this spring with four wins against ranked opponents, including two victories against the Top 25.
Both players were selected as All-Big Ten honorees. Stakhovsky was a unanimous selection to the First Team, while Bader made the Second Team.
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