April 23, 2015
URBANA, Ill. - The No. 48 Penn State men's tennis team dropped a 4-2 match against Michigan on Thursday in the First Round of the Big Ten Tournament, hosted by the University of Illinois. The Nittany Lions, seeded sixth in the bracket, got a victory at No. 1, but dropped the doubles point as the Wolverines, seeded 11th, won at No. 2 and No. 3. Penn State also got singles wins at No. 1 and No. 5. Penn State finishes the regular season and conference tournament with a 15-15 record.
The Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Jeff Zinn and Assistant Coach Paul Tobin, got the first doubles win of the match, picking up a win at 1, but the Wolverines clinched the point with wins at the other two positions.
Junior Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) and senior Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) competed at the top doubles spot against the Wolverines' Runhao Hua and Alex Knight. The Nittany Lion duo jumped out to a 4-2 lead on their way to an 8-4 set win. The duo stayed undefeated, winning their eighth straight match.
At the No. 2 doubles position, sophomore Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) and junior Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) matched up against Michigan's Alex Petrone and Kevin Wong. The Penn State pair held an early 3-1 advantage, but Petrone and Wong came back to take a 5-4 lead, eventually winning the set, 8-6. Fennell and Stakhovsky are 1-1 in dual matches.
In the third doubles match, sophomores Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) and Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) met Tyler Gardiner and Michael Zhu. Laaribi and Lutschaunig were ahead 6-5, but could not close out the set, falling 8-6. They dropped to 3-1 this spring.
Stakhovsky, named Second Team All-Big Ten earlier in the day, proved his honor in the first set at the top singles spot, winning 6-1 against Zhu. The junior followed up that set with a 6-2 second set to earn the sweep. With the win, Stakhovsky earned his 11th this spring.
Junior Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) faced Michigan's Davis Crocker at the No. 5 position. Trkulja fought off a 3-1 first set deficit to win the frame, 6-4. In the next set, Trkulja again trailed, this time down 4-1, but again fought back, winning five straight games to win the set. He won his sixth straight match to improve to 12-10 in dual matches with 18 wins overall.
Fennell matched up against the Wolverines' Hua at the second singles spot. The sophomore won the opening set, 6-4, but Hua responded by winning the second set, 6-3. In the deciding set, Hua took an early 3-0 lead before winning it 6-1 to clinch the match and match point. Fennell remains at nine wins this spring.
Senior Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) competed at No. 4 against Knight. Hanzlik was tied 1-1 in the first set, but dropped it, 6-1. In the following set, Hanzlik took a 3-2 lead, but could not hold on as Knight won 6-3. The loss snapped a six-match win streak for Hanzlik, who is now 16-9 in dual matches.
Sophomore Nika Dolidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) met the Wolverines' Wong at the sixth singles position. Dolidze went to a tiebreaker in a tight opening set, winning the tiebreaker, 7-6(3). However, Wong took the next set, 6-0. In the final set, Wong won 6-1. Dolidze is 6-5 this spring.
At the third singles spot, Barry took on Michigan's Petrone. The junior dropped a tight first set, 7-5, but bounced back to win the next set, 7-6, winning 7-5 in the tiebreaker. Barry was trailing 2-1 in the deciding set when the match was stopped.
"A very difficult loss but Michigan just outplayed us today," said Tobin. "We have to give them credit when it's due. We had opportunities across the board, but we were not able to hang on to our leads."
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Doubles:
1. Barry/Reilly(PSU) def. Hua/Knight(Mich), 8-4.
2. Petrone/Wong(Mich) def. Fennell/Stakhovsky(PSU), 8-6.
3. Gardiner/Zhu(Mich) def. Laaribi/Lutschaunig(PSU), 8-6.
Order of Finish: 1,2,3
Singles:
1. Leo Stakhovsky(PSU) def. Michael Zhu(Mich), 6-1, 6-2.
2. Runhao Hua(Mich) def. Alex Fennell(PSU), 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
3. Matt Barry(PSU) vs. Alex Petrone(Mich), 5-7, 7-6(5), 1-2, unfinished.
4. Alex Knight(Mich) def. Tomas Hanzlik(PSU), 6-1, 6-3.
5. Roman Trkulja(PSU) def. Davis Crocker(Mich), 6-4, 6-4.
6. Kevin Wong(Mich) def. Nika Dolidze(PSU), 6-7(3), 6-0, 6-1.
Order of Finish: 1,4,5,6,2