March 12, 2015 TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 48 Penn State men's tennis team travels to Tampa, Fla. this weekend for the University of South Florida Spring Break Tournament. The Nittany Lions, 5-8, are the third seed in the bracket, matching up against No. 73 VCU, the sixth seed, on Friday at 9 a.m., in a rematch of last Saturday's match, as they open play in the three-day tournament, hosted at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts.
The Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Jeff Zinn and Assistant Coach Paul Tobin, are one of eight teams in the tournament. Joining the blue and white and VCU are the host Bulls, ranked 20th in the ITA Poll. Other teams participating are No. 25 Drake, No. 52 North Florida, No. 63 Tulane, UNC Wilmington and Furman.
Penn State will face either Drake or UNC Wilmington on Saturday.
The Nittany Lions defeated USF, 4-1, earlier this spring during ITA Kickoff Weekend to send the Nittany Lions to the ITA Team Indoor National Championships.
The Nittany Lions competed against the Rams this past weekend, dropping a tight 4-3 match that was decided in the last set at No. 5. Junior Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) earned a straight-set win at No. 3, while senior Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) swept his opponent at No. 6. Three Nittany Lions lost in their third set, with two falling in third set tiebreakers.
Sophomore Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) and junior Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) earned a victory at No. 1, while sophomore Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) and senior Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) picked up a win at No. 2 to clinch the doubles point.
Following their win, Laaribi and Stakhovsky were ranked 75th in this week's ITA Doubles Poll. The duo is now 5-3 this spring.
In singles, Barry leads the team with eight wins this spring and 12 overall. Fennell has five wins, while Hanzlik and Laaribi each have four.
The Rams, now ranked 73rd in the ITA Poll, are 12-5. Junior Michal Voscek is 12-3 this spring, playing all but one match at No. 1, while sophomore Catalin Fifea is 14-2, splitting time at No. 2 and No. 3.
There are no live stats for Friday's match, updates can be found on our Facebook, Penn State Men's Tennis, and Twitter, @pennstateMTEN, pages. Daily recaps will be available on GoPSUsports.com.
Friday's Matches:
1. South Florida vs. 8. Furman, Noon.
4. North Florida vs. 5. Tulane, 3 p.m.
3. Penn State vs. 6. VCU, 9 a.m.
2. Drake vs. 7. UNC Wilmington, 9 a.m.