No. 23 Penn State Takes First Win Down South

March 11, 2016

Box Score

TAMPA, Fla. ââ'¬" The No. 23 Nittany Lions (11-2, 0-1) take down the No. 51 UNCW Seahawks (6-4) 4-0 on USF's outdoor courts. Penn State came out strong in doubles and never let up, winning each of the singles matches they finished. This is the first of three matches this weekend in Tampa.

"UNCW always comes ready to play," said head coach Jeff Zinn. "We spilt with them with the last two years so we know they are a gritty, tough team. This was our most complete match of the season. We had a great week of outside practice and I really thought that we took it to them today. Everyone played really well today. "

The momentum started with the win at first doubles. David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) and Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) came out with commanding chemistry and never let up. Penn State clinched the doubles point with the comeback win from Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) and Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.). The match seemed to be going UNCW's way when the pair was down 0-4. They didn't give up and fought their way back to a 7-5-tiebreak win.

"Constant and Aws came back from being down 0-4 to win in a tiebreak really just shows their 'never give up attitude', said Coach Zinn. "I feel really good about our doubles right now. "

The Nittany Lions capitalized on the lead and didn't allow the Seahawks to win any singles flights. Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine), De La Bassetiere and Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) added to the Penn State lead, bringing the final score to 4-0. They all won their matches in two sets with commanding leads.

"This was a very important win for the team," said assistant coach Paul Tobin. "Our third doubles had an incredible comeback and we finished the job in singles. Our focus will now shift to the tough match ahead against South Florida."

The Nittany Lions will play University of South Florida tomorrow at 10 a.m. 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 Penn State, 0 UNCW

Doubles:

1.David Kohan/Christian Lustchaunig (PSU) def. Veys/Restrepo (UNCW), 6-4.

2. Van Der Burgh/Ben Shabat (UNCW) def. Leo Stakhovsky/Matt Barry (PSU), 6-2.

3. Constant De La Bassetiere/Aws Laaribi (PSU) def. Leskinen/Savarino (UNCW), 7-6 (7-5).

Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles:

1. Leo Stakhovsky (PSU) def. Santtu Leskinen (UNCW), 6-3, 6-3.

2. Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU) def. Christian Van Der Burgh (UNCW), 6-2, 6-3.

3. Matt Barry (PSU) vs. Javier Restrepo (UNCW), 6-2, 5-2, unfinished.

4. Aws Laaribi (PSU) vs. Agustin Savarino (UNCW), 2-6, 6-2, unfinished.

5. Tomas Hanzlik (PSU) def. Aviv Ben Shabat (UNCW), 6-3, 6-2.

6. Ben Lieb (PSU) vs. Andres Torres (UNCW), 6-3, 2-6, unfinished.

Order of Finish: 1, 2, 5