Feb. 20, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" The No. 44 Nittany Lions (7-0) close out a close match against No.60 Cornell University (3-7) on Saturday in Happy Valley. The match came down to a dramatic end with fifth singles player, Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic), winning a tiebreak.
"I want to congratulate Cornell," said head coach Jeff Zinn. "They brought everything they had today. They battled. We knew they would battle and throw everything they had at us. I feel really good that we weathered the storm."
David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) and Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) continued to play with great chemistry at first doubles. The duo faltered during the 6-6 tiebreak point, ultimately losing 7-6 (7-3) to Cornell's Vrabel and Casares Rosa. The Big Red clinched the doubles point with another win at second doubles.
No. 47 Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) tied the match with a 6-2, 6-4 win at first singles. The senior battled with ease against Cornell's David Volfson to bring momentum into the singles duals. Stakhovsky is now 7-0 at first singles this spring season.
Fighting hard the whole way, Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) secured a win at second singles to advance Penn State 2-1 over the Big Red. De La Bassetiere worked Colin Sinclair across the court, placing the ball with ease. The freshman, now 4-0 at second singles and 2-0 at third singles, continues his electric NCAA career.
Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) and Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) picked up tough losses at third and forth singles respectively. Laaribi found trouble in the second set falling 6-2. Senior co-captain Barry went into three sets after battling back to win the second 6-4. Barry continued his fight into the third, ultimately succumbing 6-4.
With two singles matches left, the Nittany Lions found themselves down 2-3. Tomas Hanzlik and Ben Lieb (Newtown Square, Pa.) were left to battle it out at fifth and sixth singles. Lieb fought a grueling, three-set match to come out victorious. The freshman kept his serve strong as he worked to tie up the score.
It came down to senior Hanzlik and Cornell's Stefan Vinti. Hanzlik picked up the first set 7-5. Vinti showed up in the second set with a mission. The pair battled back and forth, going into a tie break point. Hanzlik stormed out strong, going up 5-2 quick. In a dramatic finish, Hanzlik edged out Vinti 7-2 to win the match for the Nittany Lions.
"He executed perfectly, said Coach Zinn on Hanzlik. "He got ahead and stayed ahead (on the tiebreak). He played a textbook tiebreaker to win the match."
Penn State moves ahead undefeated with five of the Nittany Lions remaining undefeated in singles play.
"It was a great match," said Coach Zinn. "The crowd was great. They guys cheered each other on and created some great positive energy. We are trying to build positive team chemistry and it showed today. That chemistry helped pull Tomas and Ben through those final matches."
"It got tight in singles after we lost the doubles point," said assistant coach Paul Tobin. "Ben and Tomas did a great job. They both dug deep and helped secure the win."
Penn State is back in action on Sunday at 10 a.m. against William and Mary followed by NJIT at 4 p.m. in the Sarni Tennis Center.
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4 Penn State, 3 Cornell
Doubles:
1. Vrabel/Rosa (CORN) def. David Kohan/Christian Lutschaunig (PSU), 7-6 (7-3).
2. Sinclair/Volfson (CORN) def. Leo Stakhovsky/Matt Barry (PSU), 6-3.
3. Aws Laaribi/Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU) vs. Lozic/Brown (CORN), 5-5, unfinished.
Order of Finish: 2, 1
Singles:
1. Leo Stakhovsky (PSU) def. David Volfson (CORN), 6-2, 6-4.
2. Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU) def. Colin Sinclair (CORN), 6-4, 6-4.
3. Bernado Rosa (CORN) def. Aws Laaribi (PSU), 7-5, 6-2.
4. Chris Vrabel (CORN) def. Matt Barry (PSU), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
5. Tomas Hanzlik (PSU) def. Stefan Vinti (CORN), 7-5, 7-6(7-2).
6. Ben Lieb (PSU) def. Dylan Brown (CORN), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 5