March 22, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 42 Penn State men's tennis team swept their doubleheader on Sunday. The Nittany Lions picked up their first Big Ten win of the season with a 4-1 victory over Michigan. Penn State won the doubles point and three of the top four singles matches. In the following match against Wagner, the blue and white shutout the Seahawks, 7-0. The Nittany Lions again won the doubles point and did not drop a set in singles. The Nittany Lions are now 9-10, 1-2.
Next weekend, the Nittany Lions continue Big Ten play with two big matches. On Friday, they travel to No. 2 Illinois(15-3) for a 2 p.m. match. On Sunday, they head to No. 14 Northwestern(12-5) for a noon match.
"We finally played today like the team I thought we would be all year," said Head Coach Jeff Zinn. "The rest of the season hinges on us winning at home. If we take care of business at home in the Big Ten, we'll be fine. We need to use our home court advantage. We had a hiccup at Michigan State, it was just a hiccup, but we can't have any more hiccups the rest of the year."
The Nittany Lions, led by Zinn and Assistant Coach Paul Tobin, clinched the doubles point against the Wolverines, earning wins at No. 1 and No. 3.
Sophomore Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) and junior Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine), ranked 75th in the ITA Poll, matched up against Michigan's Alex Petrone and Michael Zhu. The Nittany Lion duo jumped out to an early 5-2 lead. The Wolverines fought back to come within 7-6, but the Nittany Lions closed out the win. Laaribi and Stakhovsky are now 7-5 this spring.
At No. 3, junior Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) and sophomore Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) combined to meet Carter Lin and Kevin Wong. The Penn State pair also held a 5-2 advantage, Michigan took two of the next three points before Barry and Lutschaunig closed out an 8-4 win to clinch the doubles point. The pair improved to 3-2 in dual matches.
Sophomore Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) and senior Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) paired up at No. 2 against the Wolverines' Runhao Hua and Alex Knight. The blue and white pair came within 6-4, but the Michigan duo closed out an 8-5 win. Fennell and Reilly dropped to 4-5 this spring.
Penn State also won the doubles point against Wagner, again getting wins at No. 1 and No. 3.
Fennell and Lutschaunig combined at No. 1 for an 8-5 win against Wagner's Juan Alanis and Michal Rolski to clinch the point, while sophomore Marc Collado (Barcelona, Spain) and Trkulja paired up at No. 3 for an 8-3 victory over Jakob Mostyn-Kolb and Allen Wang. It was the first time that either pair has teamed up this spring.
Stakhovsky and sophomore Nika Dolidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) competed at No. 2 against the Seahawks' Charlton Boyd and Ryan Khan. The Nittany Lion duo was trailing 7-4 when the match was stopped.
Fennell matched up at the top singles spot against Michigan's Petrone. The sophomore came out on top in a tight first set, winning the tiebreaker 7-4 to take the set. Fennell jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the second set on his way to a 6-4 win in the frame. In his second match of the day, Fennell took on Rolski. The sophomore claimed a 6-4, 6-2 sweep against Rolski. Fennell is now 8-10 this spring.
The junior, Barry, met the Wolverines' Hua at No. 3 singles. After dropping the first set, 6-0, Barry responded by winning the next set, 6-3. In a close third set, Barry led 5-4, but Hua tied it back up. However, Barry took the next two games to clinch the set and the match point for Penn State. Barry picked up his 10th win this spring.
Senior Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) faced Michigan's Alex Knight at the fourth singles position. Knight forced a first set tiebreaker, but Hanzlik won the tiebreaker, 7-3. Hanzlik dominated the following set, 6-0. Against Wagner, Hanzlik met Khan. The senior earned a straight-set win, 6-2, 6-2, to improve to 9-5 in dual matches.
At the No. 2 position, Stakhovsky took on the Wolverines' Michael Zhu, ranked 120th in the nation. Stakhovsky forced a tiebreaker in a tight first set, but Zhu claimed the tiebreaker, 7-5. Another tight set saw the two tied at 4-4, but Zhu got the next two points to win the match. Stakhovsky dropped to 6-9 in dual matches.
After the match point was clinched against the Wolverines, the matches at the final two spots were stopped. Laaribi competed against Michigan's Lin at No. 5. The sophomore was leading 5-3 in the opening set when the match was stopped. Laaribi faced the Seahawks' Alanis. The Rye, N.Y. native earned a straight set win, 6-2, 6-2, to move to 7-4 in dual matches.
Junior Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) matched up against Michigan's Davis Crocker at No. 6. Trkulja was trailing 5-4 in the first set when the match was halted. Trkulja met Wagner's Charlton Boyd in his second match of the day. Trkulja never trailed in the first set, winning 6-1. He kept his momentum going in the second frame with a 6-2 win. He improved to 5-8 this spring.
Collado got the start at the fifth singles spot against Wagner, taking on Allen Wang. The sophomore was down 3-2 in the opening set, but won the next four games to claim the set. In the second set, Collado jumped out to a 3-0 lead on his way to a dominant 6-0 set. Collado improved to 4-1 this spring.
At No. 6 singles against the Seahawks, Dolidze faced Mostyn-Kolb. Dolidze never trailed in the first set, breaking open the set after trading the first five points with Mostyn-Kolb to win 6-3. In the following set, Dolidze took an early 2-1 lead and closed out the set, winning 6-2. Dolidze is now 3-4 this spring.
"Great win at home against a solid Michigan team," said Tobin. "We're back indoors and I feel that certainly helped. This was a necessary win for us. Good to see doubles back in action and taking some needed stress off the singles players."
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No. 42 Penn State vs. Michigan
Doubles:
1. #75 Laaribi/Stakhovsky(PSU) def. Petrone/Zhu(UM), 8-6.
2. Hua/Knight(UM) def. Fennell/Reilly(PSU), 8-5.
3. Barry/Lutschaunig(PSU) def. Lin/Wong(UM), 8-4.
Order of Finish: 1,2,3
Singles:
1. Alex Fennell(PSU) def. Alex Petrone(UM), 7-6(4), 6-4.
2. #120 Michael Zhu(UM) def. Leo Stakhovsky(PSU), 7-6(4), 6-4.
3. Matt Barry(PSU) def. Runhao Hua(UM), 0-6, 6-3, 7-5.
4. Tomas Hanzlik(PSU) def. Alex Knight(UM), 7-6(3), 6-0.
5. Aws Laaribi(PSU) vs. Carter Lin(UM), 5-3, unfinished.
6. Roman Trkulja(PSU) vs. Davis Crocker(UM), 4-5, unfinished.
Order of Finish: 1,4,2,3
No. 42 Penn State vs. Wagner
Doubles:
1. Fennell/Lutschaunig(PSU) def. Alanis/Rolski(WAG), 8-5.
2. Dolidze/Stakhovsky(PSU) vs. Boyd/Khan(WAG), 4-7, unfinished.
3. Collado/Trkulja(PSU) vs. Mostyn-Kolb/Wang(WAG), 8-3.
Order of Finish: 3,1
Singles:
1. Alex Fennell(PSU) def. Michal Rolski(WAG),6-4, 6-2.
2. Tomas Hanzlik(PSU) def. Ryan Khan(WAG), 6-2, 6-2.
3. Aws Laaribi(PSU) def. Juan Alanis(WAG), 6-2, 6-2.
4. Roman Trkulja(PSU) def. Charlton Boyd(WAG), 6-1, 6-2.
5. Marc Collado(PSU) def. Allen Wang(WAG), 6-3, 6-0.
6. Nika Dolidze(PSU) def. Jakob Mostyn-Kolb(WAG), 6-3, 6-2.
Order of Finish: 3,4,1,2,5,6