April 2, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 49 Penn State men's tennis team hosts three teams this weekend, including two Big Ten foes. The Nittany Lions meet Wisconsin on Friday for a 4 p.m. match. On Sunday, they match up against No. 29 Minnesota at Noon and non-conference opponent NJIT at 5 p.m. Penn State enters this weekend 9-12 overall and 1-4 in conference play. Weather permitting, the matches will be played outside this weekend at Sarni Tennis Center.
The men's tennis team is also hosting another "Sorority Challenge" weekend, with Gamma Phi and Sigma Delta Tau attending the match on Friday and Kappa Alpha Theta on Sunday. The first "Sorority Challenge" match against Ohio State drew 57 sorority members.
The Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Jeff Zinn and Assistant Coach Paul Tobin, will look to get back on track in Big Ten play after dropping two tough matches last weekend.
On Friday, they fell 6-1 at No. 3 Illinois (17-3, 5-0). They also fell 7-0 at No. 19 Northwestern (14-7, 3-2) on Sunday. Junior Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) earned a big three-set win at No. 2 against the Illini's Farris Gosea, ranked 64th in the ITA Poll. Junior Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) and senior Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) picked up a win at No. 3 doubles against the Wildcats.
Barry leads the team with 10 singles wins this spring, including two in Big Ten play. Sophomore Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) also has two conference wins, both at No. 1 singles, and eight dual match wins. Senior Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) has nine victories this spring, while sophomore Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) and Stakhovsky each have seven.
Laaribi and Stakhovsky are 7-7 this spring in doubles, playing mostly at the top spot.
The Badgers are 6-12 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten entering this weekend. Last weekend, they dropped a 5-2 decision to No. 39 Indiana, but defeated SIU Edwardsville, 4-1, and Purdue, 6-1.
Freshman Josef Dodridge is 10-4 this spring, including 6-1 at the top singles spot. Fellow freshman Lamar Remy has five wins, while Jose Carranza and Tomas Pitra have four each.
Carranza and Dodridge are ranked 39th in the ITA Poll with a mark of 7-3, including two wins over ranked opponents. The Badgers have won the doubles point in nine matches.
The Golden Gophers come into this weekend ranked 29th in the ITA rankings with a record of 14-5 overall and 5-0 in conference play. Last weekend, they shut out Purdue, 4-0, on Friday and Indiana, 4-0, on Sunday. Minnesota travels to No. 11 Ohio State this Friday before playing Penn State.
Senior Leandro Toledo is ranked 25th in the ITA Poll with a mark of 13-5 in dual matches and 20 wins overall, with seven victories coming against ranked foes. Freshman Matic Stec is 24-5 overall, 15-2 in dual matches and ranked 104th. Fellow freshman Felix Corwin has 13 wins this spring.
Mathieu Froment and Jack Hamburg are 7-6 in dual matches and ranked 49th in the ITA Doubles Poll. Corwin and Toledo are ranked 76th with an 11-1 record.
The Highlanders are 8-7 overall. The team is not affiliated with a conference. Last weekend, NJIT dropped a 6-1 match at St. John's.
Junior Markus Schultz has 11 wins this spring and 14 victories overall. Junior Andres Alban has 15 wins overall and 10 this spring.
Schultz and Arnaud Holl are 8-4 at No. 1 doubles, while Alban and Jan Cimman are 9-4 at No. 2.
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