April 5, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 49 Penn State men's tennis team fell 4-0 to No. 29 Minnesota in the first match of their doubleheader on Sunday. The Nittany Lions bounced back in their second match, with a 7-0 shutout against NJIT. Against the Gophers, the blue and white came up short in a tight doubles point and then lost singles matches at No. 1, 4, and 6. The Lions swept the doubles matches against the Highlanders and won all six singles matches, dropping only one set. Penn State is now 11-13 overall and 2-5 in Big Ten play.
Next weekend, the Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Jeff Zinn and Assistant Coach Paul Tobin, conclude their home schedule. On Friday, they take on Purdue (4-14, 0-6) at 4 p.m. On Sunday, they host No. 44 Indiana (14-8, 3-3) at Noon and Monmouth(9-7) at 5 p.m.
"Well, we didn't get three this weekend, we were 2-1," said Zinn. "We let Minnesota get by us, which hats off to them, they played well. Do we win those last three matches? We were ahead in those, so I feel like we would've won those, but we couldn't get that doubles point, we lost it in a tiebreaker. I knew the match would be close. I just didn't know where we were going to get that fourth point against a really good Minnesota team. Unfortunately, I was right, we just couldn't figure out where that fourth point was coming from and we didn't get it. All we can do is regroup for next week and try to improve our seeding in the Big Ten and take care of business, luckily it's at home."
The Nittany Lions earned a doubles win at No. 3, but dropped tight matches at No. 1 and No. 2 against Minnesota. However, the blue and white swept the doubles action against NJIT.
Junior Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) and senior Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) combined at the third doubles spot against the Gophers' Eric Frueh and Matic Spec. The Nittany Lion duo shook off an early 1-3 deficit, eventually taking a 6-5 lead, before closing out the set, 8-5. Barry and Reilly kept their momentum going in their second match of the day, knocking off the Highlanders' Luka Kaic and Richard Rangga, 8-5. They improved to 4-0 this spring.
Sophomores Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) and Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) matched up against Minnesota's Mathieu Froment and Jack Hamburg, ranked 49th in the ITA Poll. The teams traded the first 10 games, until the Gophers got a break to put them up 6-5. Froment and Hamburg closed out the set, winning 8-6. The Penn State duo bounced back against NJIT, taking a 4-1 lead on their way to an 8-3 set win against Arnaud Holl and Markus Schultz. Fennell and Laaribi are 2-1 this spring.
At No. 2, sophomore Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) and junior Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) took on the Gophers' Felix Corwin and Leandro Toledo, ranked 76th. The Penn State pair fought back from a 4-2 deficit to take a 7-6 lead, but Minnesota forced a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Lutschaunig and Stakhovsky fell 7-4. The pair responded against NJIT's Andres Alban and Jan Cimrman, fighting off a 3-1 deficit to win 8-6 and clinch the point. They are now 1-2 in dual matches.
Fennell met Minnesota's Toledo at the top singles spot. Fennell jumped out to a 3-1 first set lead, but Toledo rallied back to take a 4-3 advantage, eventually winning the set, 6-3. Fennell fell 6-1 in the second set.
Senior Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) faced the Gophers' Corwin at No. 4. In a tight set, Hanzlik dropped a 7-5 decision. In the next frame, Hanzlik fell 6-0. The senior responded against the Highlanders, knocking off Andres Alban, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 2. He is now 11-8 in dual matches.
At the sixth singles spot, junior Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) competed against Minnesota's Froment. Trkulja was tied 4-4 in the opening set, but Froment came out on top, 6-4. In the following set, Froment took a 2-1 lead before winning the set 6-2. Trkulja bounced back against NJIT, sweeping Cimrman, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 4. The junior now has seven wins this spring.
After Minnesota clinched the match point, the matches at No. 2, 3 and 5 were stopped.
At No. 2, Stakhovsky won his first set, 6-2, against the Gophers' Ruben Weber. However, Weber took the next set, 6-4. The Nittany Lions junior was leading 2-0 in the deciding set when the match was abandoned.
Barry claimed his opening set, 6-4, at the third singles spot against Minnesota's Spec, ranked 104th. The junior was leading 3-2 in his second set when the match was stopped. Barry earned his first career start at No. 1 singles against NJIT's Schultz. Barry won a tight opening set, 7-5. In a close second frame, Barry was forced to go to a tiebreaker, but won the tiebreaker 9-7 to clinch the set. He picked up his 12th win of the spring.
At the fifth singles position, Laaribi won a tight opening set, 7-6, winning the tiebreaker, 7-5, against the Gophers' Hamburg. The sophomore was ahead 2-1 in his next set when it was called. Laaribi continued his strong play against NJIT. He won the first set, 6-3. He dropped the second set, 6-1, but responded with his own 6-1 set win to clinch the match and match point for Penn State. He is now 9-6 this spring.
Sophomore Marc Collado (Barcelona, Spain) started at No. 5 against NJIT. He took on Rangga. Despite trailing 5-4 in the first set, Collado came out on top, 7-5. Collado controlled the second set, winning 6-2. He improved to 5-2 in dual matches.
Fellow sophomore Nika Dolidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) competed at the sixth singles position against the Highlanders. Dolidze jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the opening frame on his way to a 6-2 set win. The sophomore jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the next set, closing it out for a 6-2 win. He picked up his fourth win of the spring.
"Minnesota played well, but we certainly had opportunities," said Tobin. "I thought we could've pulled out the doubles point and that would've given us some great momentum going into singles. Looks like if we played it out, we would've had some points on the remaining courts. All in all, I think we played well against a solid Minnesota team."
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.
No. 49 Penn State vs. No. 29 Minnesota
Doubles:
1. #49 Froment/Hamburg(Minn) def. Fennell/Laaribi(PSU), 8-6.
2. #76 Corwin/Toledo(Minn) def. Lutschaunig/Stakhovsky(PSU), 8-7(4).
3. Barry/Reilly(PSU) def. Frueh/Spec(Minn), 8-5.
Order of Finish: 1,3,2
Singles:
1. #25 Leandro Toledo(Minn) def. Alex Fennell(PSU), 6-3, 6-1.
2. Leonard Stakhovsky(PSU) vs. Ruben Weber(Minn), 6-2, 4-6, 2-0, unfinished.
3. Matt Barry(PSU) vs. #104 Matic Spec(Minn), 6-4, 3-2, unfinished.
4. Felix Corwin(Minn) def. Tomas Hanzlik(PSU), 7-5, 6-0.
5. Aws Laaribi(PSU) vs. Jack Hamburg(Minn), 7-6(5), 2-1, unfinished.
6. Mathieu Froment(Minn) def. Roman Trkulja(PSU), 6-4, 6-2.
Order of Finish: 1,6,4
No. 49 Penn State vs. NJIT
Doubles:
1. Fennell/Laaribi(PSU) def. Holl/Schultz(NJIT), 8-3.
2. Lutschaunig/Stakhovsky(PSU) def. Alban/Cimrman(NJIT), 8-6.
3. Barry/Reilly(PSU) def. Kaic/Rangga(NJIT), 8-5.
Order of Finish: 1,2,3
Singles:
1. Matt Barry(PSU) def. Markus Schultz(NJIT), 7-5, 7-6(7).
2. Tomas Hanzlik(PSU) def. Andres Alban(NJIT), 6-2, 6-4.
3. Aws Laaribi(PSU) def. Arnaud Holl(NJIT), 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.
4. Roman Trkulja(PSU) def. Jan Cimrman(NJIT), 6-1, 6-3.
5. Marc Collado(PSU) def. Richard Rangga(NJIT), 7-5, 6-2.
6. Nika Dolidze(PSU) def. Luka Kaic(NJIT), 6-2, 6-2.
Order of Finish: 4,2,3,1,5,6