May 15, 2016
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. ââ'¬" The No. 37 Penn State Nittany Lions (22-9) ended their season with a 4-1 loss to No. 1 University of Virginia Cavaliers (26-4) in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday in Charlottesville. Penn State finished their 2016 NCAA Tournament 1-1, picking up a win against No. 25 Columbia and a loss to Virginia.
"I am really proud of our team today," said Head Coach Jeff Zinn. "We played hard against the defending National Champions in Virginia. Ending the season is never easy but I end it being proud in Penn State and these men."
The reigning National Champions, Virginia, came out swinging in doubles to take the point early. The Cavaliers took first and third doubles, leaving second doubles unfinished. The Nittany Lions are now 4-6 when losing the doubles point this spring.
"This match was crazy close, you really had to be here to see it," said Coach Zinn. "There were multiple courts that went to close tiebreaks. The last three courts went to second-set tiebreaks that could have easily gone our way to push into a third set. A lot of it came down to the matches in doubles. We were close but couldn't hold on."
The Cavaliers got an early lead in singles, winning on Court 3 against Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.). No. 9 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski took down Barry 6-1, 6-0. Their next point came from No. 78 Alexander Ritschard on Court 4 against Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic). Hanzlik fought the Cavalier to a 6-1, 6-3 end. Virginia was up 3-0 with four singles matches in play.
Senior Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) was able to bring home the only Penn State point of the day at first singles. Stakhovsky upset No. 8 Ryan Shane 7-5, 7-6. Stakhovksy finished out this season 18-11.
"Leo had the best win of his career today and what a way to end it," said Coach Zinn. "He beat the reigning National Champion in Ryan Shane. Overall, our singles players played well against a stacked Virginia team."
The remaining singles matches all headed into second-set tiebreak points with Virginia winning each first set. No. 110 J.C. Aragone got credit for clinching the match against Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) to bring the final score to 4-1.
"Congratulations to Virginia on a well played match," said Assistant Coach Paul Tobin. "We had chances in singles but the defending National Champs were there to fight us the entire way. It has been an incredible year with this team. We were fortunate enough to have four incredible seniors who will leave a legacy with this team. The 2016 Penn State men's tennis team will be missed as a group."
The Nittany Lions end the season 22-9. During the season, Penn State reached 20+ wins for the second time in program history. This is the team's seventh NCAA appearance in program history. The team advanced to the quarterfinals in the Big Ten Tournament last month for the first time in sixth years. Penn State climbed as high as No.21 on the ITA Rankings List during the week of February 25th. Lead by Jeff Zinn, the team has closed out another strong season.
#1 Virginia 4, #37 Penn State 1
Singles:
1. Leo Stakhovsky (PSU) def. #8 Ryan Shane (VA) 7-5, 7-6
2. #33 Collin Altamirano (VA) vs. C. De La Bassetiere (PSU) 6-4, 6-6, unfinished
3. #9 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA) def. Matt Barry (PSU) 6-1, 6-0
4. #78 Alexander Ritschard (VA) def. Tomas Hanzlik (PSU) 6-1, 6-3
5. #110 J.C. Aragone (VA) def. Aws Laaribi (PSU) 6-4, 7-6
6. Henrik Wiersholm (VA) vs. Marc Collado (PSU) 6-4, 6-6, unfinished
Order of Finish: 3, 4, 1, 5
Doubles:
1. #4 Ryan Shane/Luca Corinteli (VA) def. David Kohan/C. Lutschaunig (PSU) 6-3
2. #16 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski/Mac Styslinger (VA) vs. Matt Barry/Leo Stakhovsky (PSU) 4-5, unfinished
3. J.C. Aragone/Collin Altamirano (VA) def. Matt Galush/Aws Laaribi (PSU) 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 3