October 16, 2016 - UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; The Penn State Nittany Lion men's tennis team had another successful day at the ITA Regional Championships in Blacksburg, Va. There are four Lions remaining in the tournament, competing in both singles and doubles.
This morning's doubles competition proved to be very successful for Penn State, with both doubles teams advancing to the semifinal round. Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) and Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) battled with Virginia Tech's Mitch Harper and Freddy Mesmer, ending the match with a close 8-6 result. Senior Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) and freshman Gabriel Nemeth (Brasilia, Brazil) partnered against Addison Abbleby and Lars DeBoer from William & Mary and achieved an 8-4 win.
Today's singles matches were also successful for the Lions. De La Bassetiere first faced off with Virginia Tech's Mesmer, whom he competed against in doubles earlier in the day, and finished the match the same way, with a win ââ'¬" 6-1, 6-3. Bassetiere was able to keep the momentum going and also defeat Daryl Monfils from Virginia Commonwealth University 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Freshman Lakoseljac also matched with a player from Virginia Commonwealth University, Martin Jonsson, in his first round of the day and defeated him 6-4, 6-0. Lakoseljac also went on to win his second singles match of the day, against William & Mary's Aidan Talcott, 6-0, 1-6, 6-2. These wins place both Bassetiere and Lakoseljac in the quarterfinal round of competition.
"It was a big day for the Nittany Lions in Blacksburg," said head coach Jeff Zinn after the third day of play at the regional championships. "To have two teams and two individuals competing for a chance to go to the National Indoors is a goal we set early in the fall season. It is a sign that the team is gaining confidence in their abilities and they are carrying that confidence over into their matches," Zinn said. "We competed hard in singles and I was especially proud of our two seniors Nika Dolidze and Aws Laaribi. They didn't win their matches but they competed so hard and that's all we can ask for as a coaching staff. I was also proud of our new freshman, Christian Lakoseljac, for him to get this far as a freshman really shows his talent at a national level."
"We are very proud of our boys today," said associate head coach Paul Tobin. "Constant, Gabriel, Christian Lakoseljac and Christian Luts are still in the tournament for us. All in all, the Lions competed hard and we saw some great effort from everyone on the court."
The Lions will continue competition tomorrow morning at the ITA Atlantic Regional Championships. Check back to GoPSUsports and our social media accounts for updates throughout the tournament!
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