Feb. 27, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 39 Penn State men's tennis team fought hard against No. 8 Ohio State at the Indoor Tennis Center on Friday, but came up short, falling 6-1. The Buckeyes won the doubles point with victories at No. 1 and 2. Penn State won at the No. 3 singles position, but Ohio State won tight matches at the other five spots. The Nittany Lions dropped to 4-7 this spring, while the Buckeyes improved to 12-3.
The Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Jeff Zinn and Assistant Coach Paul Tobin, take on No. 23 Princeton on Saturday. The match begins at noon. The Tigers are 9-2 this spring.
The Nittany Lions have now played six of their 11 matches against Top 20 teams, with two other matches against ranked opponents.
"I thought we played well today," said Zinn. "We fought hard in singles and the match really came down to one point in Alex's match. It was a great match and if we got that point, we had Aws and Tomas playing well. Today, everyone was playing well and hopefully we can continue that against Princeton."
The Buckeyes took the first point of the match, clinching the doubles point with victories at the top two doubles positions.
Sophomore Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) and junior Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) matched up against Ohio State's Kevin Metka and Ralf Steinbach, ranked 4th in the ITA Poll. In a tight first set, the Nittany Lion duo held a 5-4 advantage, but the Buckeyes held on their serve and got a break on the next game to gain a 7-5 edge. Ohio State won the match, 8-6. Laaribi and Stakhovsky are now 4-2 this spring.
At the No. 2 doubles spot, sophomore Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) and senior Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) took on the Buckeyes' Herkko Pollanen and Mikael Torpegaard. Ohio State took an early 4-2 lead on their way to an 8-6 set win to clinch the doubles point. Fennell and Reilly are 1-1 in dual matches.
Sophomore Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) and junior Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) combined at No. 3 against Ohio State's Hunter Callahan and Chris Diaz. The Penn State pair took an early 2-1 lead, but the Buckeyes were leading 7-4 when the match was stopped after the doubles point was clinched.
Junior Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) competed at No. 3 singles against Ohio State's Herkko Pollanen, ranked 78th in the nation. Barry won a tight opening set, getting a break while up 5-4. In another close set, Barry led 5-3, but Pollanen came back to force a tiebreaker at 6-6. Barry won the tiebreaker, 7-5, to take the match. It was Barry's sixth win this season and the 60th of his career.
At the top singles spot, Stakhovsky, ranked 121st in the ITA Poll, met the Buckeyes' Diaz, ranked 43rd. Diaz took an early 4-1 advantage in the first set, going on to win 6-2. In the next set, a tight set, Diaz won 6-4. Stakhovsky is now 2-7 in dual matches.
The sophomore, Fennell, faced the Buckeyes's Torpegaard, ranked 36th. Down 3-2 in the opening set, Fennell won four of the next five games to clinch the set. Torpegaard responded, winning a tight 6-4 second set. A back-and-forth deciding set went to a tiebreaker at 6-6. Torpegaard won a close battle, 7-5, in the tiebreaker. Fennell is 5-6 this spring.
Trkulja matched up against Callahan, ranked 106th, at No. 4. Trkulja took an early 2-1 lead in the first set, but Callahan took the next three points on his way to a 6-4 set win. In the second set, a back-and-forth set, Trkulja led 4-3, but Callahan again won three straight games to clinch the match. The junior is 3-5 this spring.
In the match at No. 5, Laaribi took on Steinbach, ranked 73rd in the ITA Poll. Steinbach won the first set, 6-1, but Laaribi responded by winning the second set, 6-4. In a super tiebreaker third set, Steinbach won 10-1 to take the match. Laaribi is 3-3 in dual matches.
Senior Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) got the start at No. 6, competing against the Buckeyes' Kevin Metka, who took a close opening set, 7-5. In the second set, Hanzlik held his serve to get the score within 5-3, but Metka got the next point to win the set. Hanzlik is now 2-4 this spring.
"Look at the scores and you will see some pretty tight matches on lots of courts," said Tobin. "We fought hard and I think this was a turning point in the season. Ohio State is good, but we had chances. I think we could have picked up four points if we just had some sustaining power on certain courts. A little disappointed in doubles, came down to a break on both No. 1 and No. 2. I thought we were going to pull them out."
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Doubles:
1. #4 Metka/Steinbach(OSU) def. Laaribi/Stakhovsky(PSU), 8-6.
2. Pollanen/Torpegaard(OSU) def. Fennell/Reilly(PSU), 8-6.
3. Lutschaunig/Trkulja(PSU) vs. #40 Callahan/Diaz(OSU), 4-7, unfinished.
Order of Finish: 1,2
Singles:
1. #43 Chris Diaz(OSU) def. #121 Leo Stakhovsky(PSU), 6-2, 6-4.
2. #36 Mikael Torpegaard(OSU) def. Alex Fennell(PSU), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5).
3. Matt Barry(PSU) def. #78 Herkko Pollanen(OSU), 6-4, 7-6(5).
4. #106 Hunter Callahan(OSU) def. Roman Trkulja(PSU), 6-4, 6-4.
5. #73 Ralf Steinbach(OSU) def. Aws Laaribi(PSU), 6-1, 4-6, (10-1).
6. Kevin Metka(OSU) def. Tomas Hanzlik(PSU), 7-5, 6-3.
Order of Finish: 1,4,3,2,5,6