Feb. 15, 2015
CHICAGO - The No. 22 Penn State men's tennis team lost a tight battle, 4-2, on Sunday against No. 13 California at the ITA Men's Team Indoor National Championships at the Midtown Athletic Club in Chicago. The Nittany Lions won a doubles match at No. 1, but lost the point. They also got wins at the No. 2 and 3 singles spots, but Cal got wins at No. 1, 4 and 5. Penn State is now 3-5 this spring, while Cal improved to 7-2.
The Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Jeff Zinn and Assistant Coach Paul Tobin, have now played five Top 20 teams in eight matches this year.
"I thought overall we played well today," said Zinn. "We played better as the matches went on this weekend and hopefully we can build on this and get on a win streak here. We need to get some wins to get our confidence back. We played some very tough teams this weekend, No. 1, No. 9 and No. 13, that's a tough stretch. I think there's a reason we were here, we are a good team and hopefully we get on a roll here."
Sophomore Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) and junior Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) matched up against Cal's 30th-ranked Gregory Bayane and Chase Melton at the top doubles spot. The Nittany Lion duo was in a tight battle, leading 4-3, and then got a break on their way to a 6-3 win. The duo is now 2-1 this spring.
At the No. 2 doubles position, junior Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) and sophomore Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) paired up against Cal's Andre Goransson and Oskar Wikberg, ranked 32nd. In a back-and-forth set, Barry and Fennell tied it up at 5-5, but the Cal pair won the next two points to clinch the match and the doubles point. They are now 4-4 in dual matches.
Senior Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) and junior Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) competed against Filip Bergevi and Mads Engsted at No. 3, but dropped a 6-3 result to fall to 2-2 this spring.
At the second singles spot, Fennell matched up against Bergevi, ranked 114th in the ITA Poll. The sophomore jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first set and won a close set, 7-6. Fennell competed in another tight set, trading points the entire set, with Fennell coming out on top, 7-6. The sophomore is now 3-5 this spring, with his first win over a ranked opponent.
Barry faced Billy Griffith at the No. 3 spot. Barry dominated the first set, winning the first five games and the set, 6-2. Barry trailed 2-0 early in the next set, but fought for a 6-4 set win. Barry is now 5-1 this spring and 9-4 overall.
At the top singles spot, Stakhovsky, ranked 81st, took on his third Top 50 opponent in as many days, this time against Goransson, ranked 42nd. Stakhovsky took an early 3-1 lead on his way to a 6-2 set win. After trailing 4-2 in the second set, Stakhovsky rallied to tie it at 4-4, but Goransson came out on top, 7-5. In another tight third set, it was tied 3-3, but Goransson won three of the last four games to win the match and clinch the match point for the Bears. Stakhovsky is now 1-6 this spring, with five losses against ranked opponent.
Laaribi competed against JT Nishimura at the fourth spot, but Nishimura won the opening set 6-0. The second set was tight with Laaribi tying it at 4-4 after trailing 4-1, but Nishimura won the frame, 7-6, to win the match. Laaribi is now 2-2 this spring.
Senior Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) faced Bayane at the No. 5 singles position, but Bayane won 6-1, 6-2 in straight sets. Hanzlik dropped to 2-2 in dual matches.
When the match point was clinched, the match at No. 6 was stopped. Sophomore Nika Dolidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) won a close battle in the first set, 7-6, but was trailing 4-3 in the second set against Engsted.
"We can certainly walk away from this feeling like we belong here," said Tobin. "Cal has been a tennis powerhouse for the past 20 years and we pressed them hard in both singles and doubles. Splitting doubles again coming down to Matt and Alex. Came down to a tight end and I was disappointed it wasn't in our favor. We were loose on the big points. Good wins at 2 and 3 singles and had an opportunity with Leo, taking the first set and up 4-2 in the second. Nika was on his way to closing out his match, up a set and on serve 3-3 in the second. These matches will prepare us for tough Big Ten matches.
The Nittany Lions travel next Saturday, February 21, to No. 63 Cornell, with first serve at noon. They return home the following day against James Madison, with the match beginning at 3 p.m.
Please check back to GoPSUsports.com 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. Laaribi/Stakhovsky(PSU) def. #30 Bayane/Melton(Cal), 6-3.
2. #32 Goransson/Wikberg(Cal) def. Barry/Fennell(PSU), 7-5.
3. Bergevi/Engsted(Cal) def. Reilly/Trkulja(PSU), 6-3.
Order of Finish: 3,1,2
Singles:
1. #42 Andre Goransson(Cal) def. #81 Leo Stakhovsky(PSU), 3-6, 7-5, 4-6.
2. Alex Fennell(PSU) def. #114 Filip Bergevi(Cal), 7-6, 7-6.
3. Matt Barry(PSU) def. Billy Griffith(Cal), 6-2, 6-4.
4. JT Nishimura(Cal) def. Aws Laaribi(PSU), 6-0, 7-6.
5. Gregory Bayane(Cal) def. Tomas Hanzlik(PSU), 6-1, 6-2.
6. Nika Dolidze(PSU) vs. Mads Engsted(Cal), 7-6, 3-4, unfinished.
Order of Finish: 5,3,4,2,1