April 22, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ---The No. 39 Nittany Lions (20-6, 6-4) upset the No. 15 Fighting Illini (17-8, 8-2) Friday night at the Sarni Tennis Center. The Nittany Lions showed up the Fighting Illini 4-3 to give them their second conference loss of the season. Senior Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) clinched the match in a third set to bring Penn State their second 20-win season in program history.
"It is a great way to get a top-16 win and get our 20th win of the season," said Head Coach Jeff Zinn. "We definitely wanted to protect our home court, which we have done a great job of this year. We always talk about championship teams and what it takes to be one; you need to win your doubles and you need to be strong at 4, 5 and 6 to be an elite team. We did that today!"
The Nittany Lions came out swinging taking the doubles point for their own. Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) and Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) set the tone upsetting No. 90 Aleks Vukic and Aron Hiltzik 6-3. Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) and Matt Galush (Cary, N.C.) clinched the point on Court 3, after the Lions suffered a 6-2 loss on Court 1. The pair of Laaribi and Galush won 6-4, giving the Fighting Illini their second doubles point loss of the spring season.
Illinois bounced back in singles, winning the first two matches on court one and two. Marc Collado (Barcelona, Spain) tied it back up for Penn State taking home the win at sixth singles. He was the only Nittany Lion to win in two sets Friday.
The Fighting Illini took home their last point of the night with No. 65 Aron Hiltzik at third singles, making the score 3-2.
Hanzlik and Laaribi headed into third sets and never looked back. Laaribi got his win at fifth singles against Pengxuan Jiang to bring the score to 3-3. Laaribi fought hard through the third set to end it 6-2.
The crowd went silent as Hanzlik extended his third set lead to 6-5. The match was now left to Hanzlik and Julian Childers from Illinois. Childers served losing the first three points. Hanzlik gave up a point to bring the score to 40-15. Hanzlik and Childers rallied before Childers hit it out. Penn State clinched the upset 4-3.
"We stress as a coaching staff to peak at the right times and to prepare for the championship season at the end," said Coach Zinn. "Our backs were against the wall in today's match and we knew we had to get a win. Every team member contributed on and off the court. That is why we won today. We truly embraced the 'ONETEAM' motto."
The Lions remain 13-0 at home and 17-2 when winning the doubles point. This is the teams second 20-win season in program history.
"This is a huge win for the team," said Assistant Coach Paul Tobin. "We knew taking the doubles point was crucial and we did it. In singles, we had some tough positions but Collado, Laaribi and Hanzlik were determined to win. Hanzlik had an outstanding match to clinch the win. This is truly what college tennis is all about."
The Lions are back in action on Sunday when they host No. 14 Northwestern for Senior Day. Penn State will honor Leo Stakhovsky, Matt Barry, Tomas Hanzlik and Roman Trkulja in a short ceremony in between doubles and singles. The match begins at Noon.
4 Penn State, 3 Illinois
Doubles:
1. Jared Hiltzik/Pengxuan Jiang (ILL) def. David Kohan/Christian Lutschaunig (PSU), 6-2.
2. Leo Stakhovsky/Matt Barry (PSU) def. #90 Aleks Vukic/Aron Hiltzik (ILL), 6-3.
3. Aws Laaribi/Matt Galush (PSU) def. Julian Childers/Alex Jesse, 6-4.
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles:
1. #13 Jared Hiltzik (ILL) def. Leo Stakhovsky (PSU), 6-2, 6-2.
2. #3 Alec Vukic (ILL) def. Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU), 7-5, 6-1.
3. #65 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) def. Matt Barry (PSU) 7-6(2), 6-2.
4. Tomas Hanzlik (PSU) def. Julian Childers (ILL), 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.
5. Aws Laaribi (PSU) def. Pengxuan Jiang (ILL) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.
6. Marc Collado (PSU) def. Alex Jesse (ILL), 6-3, 6-2.
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 6, 3, 5, 4