April 10, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 50 Penn State men's tennis team knocked off Purdue, 6-1, on Friday at the Indoor Tennis Center. The Nittany Lions earned victories at the bottom five singles spots as well as No. 2 and 3 doubles positions. The blue and white improved to 12-13 overall and 3-5 in Big Ten play. The Boilermakers fell to 4-15 overall and 0-7 in conference play.
The Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Jeff Zinn and Assistant Coach Paul Tobin, finish their home schedule on Sunday. They take on No. 41 Indiana (14-8, 3-3) at Noon and non-conference opponent Monmouth (9-7) at 5 p.m. Penn State will honor Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) as part of the Senior Day ceremonies.
"I thought at the top of our lineup, that's where Purdue is strong, I thought Leo played well, getting a break when he was down in the third," said Zinn. "Matt losing his first set, but coming back strong in his second and third sets, I thought that was big for us. Our guys at 4, 5, and 6 took care of business. I thought our No. 2 doubles played well and we played well at 3. We're starting to put it together, so hopefully Sunday, we can have the same results."
The blue and white won the doubles point, earning victories at No. 2 and 3.
At the second doubles spot, junior Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) and senior Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) competed against Purdue's Arthur Dobradin and Mateus Silva. With a 5-4 lead, the Nittany Lion duo got a break and kept their momentum going to win 8-5 to clinch the doubles point. Barry and Reilly improved to 5-0 this spring.
Sophomore Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) and junior Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) met the Boilermakers' Matt Bouggy and Lucas Dages at No. 3. The pair jumped out to a 4-1 lead on their way to an 8-4 victory. The duo is now 2-2 in dual matches.
At the top doubles position, sophomore Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) and Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) faced Diego Acosta and Ricky Medinilla. The Penn State pair was trailing 6-3 when the match was stopped.
Stakhovsky took on Medinilla at the No. 2 singles spot. The junior won the opening set, 6-2, but Medinilla responded, winning the next set, 6-2. In the deciding set, Stakhovsky trailed 2-0, but fought back to tie it at 4-4 and closed out the set and the match, winning 6-4. He now has nine wins this spring.
At the third singles position, Barry matched up against the Purdue's Silva. After dropping the first set, 6-2, Barry bounced back to win the second set, 6-2. In the final set, he took an early 3-1 lead on his way to a 6-3 set win to clinch the match and match point for Penn State. Barry is now 13-7 in dual matches.
Senior Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) started at No. 4 against the Boilermakers' Dobradin. The senior earned a straight-set win, 6-2, 6-3, jumping out to 4-2 leads in both sets. He improved to 12-8 this spring.
At the fifth singles spot, Laaribi met Purdue's Dages. Leading the first set, 3-2, Laaribi broke the set open, winning it 6-2. In the following set, he jumped out to a 3-1 lead on his way to another 6-2 victory. Laaribi moved to 10-6 in dual matches.
Junior Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) took on Bouggy at the sixth singles position. Trkulja dominated the first set, winning 6-0. He continued that performance in the second set, also winning 6-0. He now has eight wins this spring.
Fennell competed at the top singles spot against Purdue's Acosta. After falling 6-3 in the first set, Fennell took an early 3-1 lead in the following set, but could not close it out as Acosta won, 6-4. Fennell dropped to 9-14 in dual matches.
"It's always good to get a conference win at home," said Tobin. "Purdue has had some setbacks in the roster, and that certainly was an advantage to us. It was good to get the doubles point, that's a lot of pressure off the singles players. We are really going to have to step things up against Indiana on Sunday. It's going to be our last look at a higher ranked team."
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Doubles:
1. Fennell/Laaribi(PSU) vs. Acosta/Medinilla(PUR), 3-6, unfinished.
2. Barry/Reilly(PSU) def. Dobradin/Silva(PUR), 8-5.
3. Lutschaunig/Stakhovsky(PSU) def. Bouggy/Dages(PUR), 8-4.
Order of Finish: 3,2
Singles:
1. Diego Acosta(PUR) def. Alex Fennell(PSU), 6-3, 6-4.
2. Leo Stakhovsky(PSU) def. Ricky Medinilla(PUR), 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
3. Matt Barry(PSU) def. Mateus Silva(PUR), 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
4. Tomas Hanzlik(PSU) def. Arthur Dobradin(PUR), 6-2, 6-3.
5. Aws Laaribi(PSU) def. Lucas Dages(PUR), 6-2, 6-2.
6. Roman Trkulja(PSU) def. Matt Bouggy(PUR), 6-0, 6-0.
Order of Finish: 4,1,2,3,6,5