Feb. 26, 2016
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The No. 21 Penn State men's tennis team (9-1, 0-1) fell at No. 3 Ohio State (13-1, 1-0) 4-0 on Friday. The Nittany Lions opened Big Ten play with some trouble against the Buckeyes. Head coach Jeff Zinn and the team travel to UPenn Sunday.
"It is tough to come away with a loss but it was extremely close," said head coach Jeff Zinn. "We played well at the end, after about an hour and a half. Barry, Constant, Laaribi, Lieb, and Hanzlik all had really close matches."
The Nittany Lions dropped the doubles point for only the second time this season. David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) and Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) fell at first doubles to No. 19 Torpegaard and Pollanen. Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) and Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) lost their second doubles set 6-2 to No. 13 Steinbach and Joyce. Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) and Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) were up 5-1 at third doubles when the match was stopped.
The Buckeyes took a quick lead in singles and never turned back. No. 59 Stakhovsky fell to No. 9 Mikael Torpegaard, 6-0, 6-1. Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) was next to fall, losing 6-2, 6-4 to Ohio State's Ralf Steinbach. The only other singles match to finish was Laaribi at third singles. Laaribi fell to No. 32 Chris Diaz, 6-1, 6-3.
"The difference in tonight's match (compared to the rest of the season) was that we didn't win the sudden death points," said Coach Zinn. "That could be because we were on the road or that we were up against one of the best in the country but that is what it came down to. We have to work on handling the pressure of the moment. I think we played very well. If we play them down the road, now we know what to expect."
De La Bassetiere spilt sets with No. 17 Hugo Di Feo before the match was stopped. No. 98 Barry was working on his third set against No. 45 Herkko Pollanen, when the Buckeyes secured the win. Ben Lieb was halted during his second set against Martin Joyce.
"We were playing well in doubles and thought we had opportunity," said assistant coach Paul Tobin. "We competed well. Ohio State is an incredibly well coached team, who is known to be aggressive at the baseline. Overall, the guys played hard tonight. I think they will learn from this match."
The Nittany Lions are back on the road Sunday, when they travel to Philadelphia to take on University of Pennsylvania at Noon.
Please check back to GoPSUsports.com throughout the weekend for coverage of the Penn State men's tennis team. Live match updates are available on our Facebook, Penn State Men's Tennis, and Twitter, @pennstateMTEN, pages.
4 #3 Ohio State, 0 #21 Penn State
Doubles:
1. #19 Mikael Torpegaard/Herkko Pollanen (OSU) def. David Kohan/Christian Lutschaunig (PSU), 6-2.
2. #13 Ralf Steinbach/Martin Joyce (OSU) def. Leo Stakhovsky/Matt Barry (PSU), 6-1.
3. Constant De La Bassetiere/Aws Laaribi (PSU) vs. Chris Diaz/Hugo Di Feo (OSU), 5-1, unfinished.
Order of Finish: 2, 1
Singles:
1. #6 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) def. #59 Leo Stakhovsky (PSU), 6-0, 6-1.
2. #17 Hugo Di Feo (OSU) vs. Constant De La Bassetier (PSU), 5-7, 6-0, unfinished.
3. #32 Chris Diaz (OSU) def. Aws Laaribi (PSU), 6-1, 6-3.
4. #45 Herkko Pollanen (OSU) vs. #98 Matt Barry (PSU), 6-2, 4-6, 0-2, unfinished.
5. Ralf Steinbach (OSU) def. Tomas Hanzlik (PSU), 6-2, 6-4.
6. Martin Joyce (OSU) vs. Ben Lieb (PSU), 6-2, 5-6, unfinished.
Order of Finish: 1, 5, 3