Feb. 5, 2015
Live Stats
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 22 Penn State men's tennis team heads to Blacksburg, Va. this weekend for a matchup against No. 37 Virginia Tech. The Nittany Lions(3-1) will take on the Hokies(4-1) at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center.
The Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Jeff Zinn and Assistant Coach Paul Tobin, dropped to No. 22 in the ITA Poll this week, but remained in the Top 25 for the fourth straight poll this season and 11th straight, dating back to the 2014 season. Penn State split their doubleheader on Sunday, falling 5-2 against Penn, but earning a 7-0 win against Temple.
Junior Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) is 4-0 this spring and 8-3 overall, while winning matches so far at the No. 2, 3, and 4 spots in the lineup.
Sophomore Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) won two matches last weekend, playing No. 2 against Penn and No. 1 against Temple. He is 6-6 overall.
Senior Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic), sophomore Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) and junior Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) each have two wins this spring. Hanzlik and Trkulja both have eight victories overall, while Laaribi has seven.
At the top singles spot, junior Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) is 1-2, with a win against USF's Roberto Cid, ranked 19th in the ITA Poll.
Barry and Fennell have also been successful in doubles this spring, with a 4-0 mark, playing at all three doubles spots. They are 7-2 overall.
The Hokies are 4-1 entering this weekend. They have wins against Coastal Carolina, James Madison, then-No. 36 Alabama and Marquette. Their lone loss came against No. 7 North Carolina during ITA Kickoff Weekend.
Virginia Tech has three team members represented in the ITA Singles Poll. Junior Amerigo Contini, 4-0 this spring at the top spot and 13-5 overall, is ranked 35th. Fellow junior Andreas Bjerrehus, ranked 61st, is 3-1 in dual matches at No. 2 and 11-5 overall. Sophomore Florian Nicoud, 3-1 this spring and 14-5 overall, is ranked 94th.
Bjerrehus and Contini are 4-3 in doubles and 1-0 this spring.
Please check back to GoPSUsports.com on Saturday 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.