Feb. 15, 2015
CHICAGO - The No. 22 Penn State men's tennis team(3-4) fell 4-0 against No. 9 Texas(8-1) on Saturday at the ITA Men's Team Indoor National Championships, hosted by the University of Illinois at the Midtown Athletic Club in Chicago. The Nittany Lions won the match at No. 3 doubles, but dropped the point, and the Longhorns won singles matches at the top three singles spots.
The blue and white, led by Head Coach Jeff Zinn and Assistant Coach Paul Tobin, will face either No. 13 California at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday.
At the third doubles position, senior Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) and junior Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) competed against Adrian Ortiz-Ruiz and Michael Reichmann. The Nittany Lion duo shook off an early 2-1 deficit to win a tight set, 6-4. The duo is now 2-1 this spring.
Sophomore Aws Laaribi (Toronto, Canada) and junior Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) combined at the top doubles spot against Lloyd Glasspool and Soren Hess-Olesen. After falling behind 3-0 early, the pair rallied back to get the score within 4-3, but the Longhorns won the set, 6-3. Laaribi and Stakhovsky are now 1-1 in dual matches.
Junior Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) and sophomore Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) paired up at No. 2 doubles to face Adrien Berkowicz and George Goldhoff. Tied at 2-2, the Longhorns won four of the next five points to win the set, 6-3, and clinch the doubles point. Barry and Fennell are now 4-3 this spring and 7-5 overall.
Stakhovsky, ranked 81st in the ITA Poll, matched up against Hess-Olesen, ranked 16th, at the top singles spot. In a back-and-forth opening set, Hess-Olesen came out on top, 7-5. Hess-Olesen carried his momentum into the next set, winning 6-2. Stakhovsky is now 1-5 this spring, with four losses coming against ranked opponents.
Fennell dropped a straight set result, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 2 against Lloyd Glasspool, while Barry also fell in straight-sets, 6-2, 6-4 against #65 Adrien Berkowicz. Fennell is now 2-5 this spring, while Barry suffered his first dual match loss, falling to 4-1. Berkowicz's win clinched the match point for the Longhorns.
After the match point was clinched, the final three matches were stopped. At the No. 4 spot, Laaribi was in a tight battle against Nick Naumann. The sophomore was leading 5-4 in the first set, but Naumann forced a tiebreaker and won it to take the set, 7-6. Laaribi was trailing 4-3 in the second set when it was stopped.
Senior Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) got the start at No. 5, competing against Goldhoff. With the score 3-2 in the first set, Hanzlik won three straight games to claim the set. Hanzlik held a 4-3 advantage in the second frame when it was abandoned.
At the No. 6 spot, sophomore Nika Dolidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) earned the start against John Mee. The Longhorns won a tough first set, 7-5. Dolidze was trailing 2-1 in the second when it was stopped.
"When you're playing against any of these Top 10 teams, you know it's going to be a battle on every point," said Tobin. "I thought we had an opportunity to take the doubles points. After splitting on 1 and 3, we had the momentum going but could not hold onto several key leads at 2. Texas is strong in top positions, we competed well but couldn't find any openings to push three sets on any courts. The players are certainly getting great experience and hopefully this will help us when it matters in Big Ten matches."
The Nittany Lions close out the ITA Men's Team Indoor National Championships on Sunday against the Golden Bears.
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Doubles:
1. Glasspool/Hess-Olesen(UT) def. Laaribi/Stakhovsky(PSU), 6-3.
2. Berkowicz/Goldhoff(UT) def. Barry/Fennell(PSU), 6-3.
3. Reilly/Trkulja(PSU) def. Ortiz-Ruiz/Reichmann(UT), 6-4.
Order of Finish: 3,1,2
Singles:
1. #16 Soren Hess-Olesen(UT) def. #81 Leo Stakhovsky(PSU), 7-5, 6-2.
2. Lloyd Glasspool(UT) def. Alex Fennell(PSU), 6-4, 6-4.
3. #65 Adrien Berkowicz(UT) def. Matt Barry(PSU), 6-2, 6-4.
4. Aws Laaribi(PSU) vs. Nick Naumann(UT), 6-7, 3-4, unfinished.
5. Tomas Hanzlik(PSU) vs. George Goldhoff(UT), 6-2, 4-3, unfinished.
6. Nika Dolize(PSU) vs. John Mee(UT), 5-7, 1-2, unfinished.
Order of Finish: 2,1,3