March 7, 2015
RICHMOND, Va. - The No. 41 Penn State men's tennis team dropped a tight 4-3 decision at VCU on Saturday at the Thalheimer Tennis Center. The Nittany Lions won the doubles point with victories at the top two spots as well as two singles matches. However, VCU won the match at No. 5 to break a 3-3 tie and clinch the match. Penn State fell to 5-8, while the Rams improved to 12-4.
The Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Jeff Zinn and Assistant Coach Paul Tobin, won the doubles point for the sixth time this year.
At the top doubles spot, sophomore Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) and senior Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) earned a 6-3 win against the Rams' Joseph Cohen and Daryl Monfils. The duo improved to 5-3 this spring.
Sophomore Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) and senior Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) combined at the second doubles position for their own 6-3 victory against Wilder Pimentel and Michal Voscek. The win clinched the doubles point for the Nittany Lions. Fennell and Reilly are now 2-1.
At No. 3, junior Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) and sophomore Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) met VCU's Catalin Fifea and Antonio Batlle Rodriguez. The Penn State pair was trailing 5-2 when the match was stopped.
The Nittany Lions picked up straight set wins at the No. 3 and No. 6 singles positions.
Barry faced VCU's Monfils at No. 3. The junior earned a 6-3 win in the first set. In a tight second set, he won a tiebreaker, 7-1, to win the set and the match. Barry improved to 8-3 this spring.
Senior Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) took on Jacob Svensson at the sixth spot. Hanzlik cruised to a 6-1 win in the first set. He carried his momentum into the next set, winning 6-4. Hanzlik is now 4-4 in dual matches.
Fennell got his second straight start at No. 1, the fourth this season as he met Voscek. Fennell dropped the opening set, 6-2. In a tight second set, Fennell came up short, 7-6, losing a close tiebreaker, 7-5. Fennell is now 5-8 this spring and 2-2 at No. 1.
Stakhovsky, ranked 121st in the ITA Poll, took on the Rams' Fifea at the No. 2 spot. Stakhovsky fell 6-4 in the opening set, but bounced back in the second set, winning 6-3. Fifea came out on top in the deciding set, 6-4. Stakhovsky dropped to 3-8 in dual matches.
Junior Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) faced Pimentel at the No. 4 position. Pimentel claimed the first set, 6-1, but Trkulja responded by winning the next set, 6-1. In a tight battle in the third set, Trkulja fell 7-5 in the tiebreaker. The junior is 3-7 this spring.
With the match score tied at 3-3, the match point came down to the battle at No. 5. Laaribi dropped the opening set, 6-3, against Batlle Rodriguez. However, Laaribi won his own 6-3 set in the second frame, keeping the Nittany Lions alive. Laaribi jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the deciding set, but Batlle Rodriguez fought back to tie it at 5-5 and then won the next point to hold a 6-5 advantage. Laaribi responded by winning the next game to force a tiebreaker. Batlle Rodriguez won the tiebreaker, 7-2, to clinch the match. Laaribi, now 4-4, was in a deciding match for the second straight dual match, after winning his match at No. 5 against No. 23 Princeton.
"We're struggling to pull out these tight matches," said Tobin. "Picking up the doubles point helped, but VCU was better than us in certain positions. We had an opportunity at 5, with Aws serving at 4-3, 30-0. but wasn't able to close it out. That is something we really need to improve on."
The Nittany Lions head to Tampa, Fla. next weekend for the USF Spring Break Tournament. The tournament starts on Friday, March 13 and finishes on Sunday, March 15.
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. Cohen/Monfils(VCU), 6-3.
2. Fennell/Reilly(PSU) def. Pimentel/Voscek(VCU) 6-3.
3. Barry/Lutschaunig(PSU) vs. Fifea/Batlle Rodriguez(VCU), 2-5, unfinished.
Order: 1,2
Singles:
1. Michal Voscek(VCU) def. Alex Fennell(PSU), 6-2, 7-6(5).
2. Catalin Fifea(VCU) def. #121 Leo Stakhovsky(PSU), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
3. Matt Barry(PSU) def. Daryl Monfils(VCU), 6-3. 7-6(1).
4. Wilder Pimentel(VCU) def. Roman Trkulja(PSU), 6-1, 1-6, 7-6(5).
5. Antonio Batlle Rodriguez(VCU) def. Aws Laaribi(PSU), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2).
6. Tomas Hanzlik(PSU) def. Jacob Svensson(VCU), 6-1, 6-4.
Order: 1,2,3,4,6,5