March 10, 2017 - UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; The Penn State men's tennis team continued their stay in the south today with the beginning of a spring break tournament hosted by the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla.
The blue and white battled in the beginning of competition today and did not come away with the doubles point. Christos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece) and David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) partnered on court one to defeat Andre Baldo and Mustapha Belcora 6-4. Nika Dolidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) and Henry Gordon (New Braunfels, Tx.) paired on court two and finished their match with a 5-5, retired result. Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) and Gabriel Nemeth (Brasilia, Brazil) partnered on court three.
Singles competition was prosperous for the Lions, who earned four victories to secure the match win. In the No. 1 position, Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) defeated Hassan Ndayishimiye 6-3, 7-5. Playing for the No. 2 position, Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) took down Andy Lau in a three set match ending with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 outcome. Christos Antonopoulos was at the No. 3 position and came away with a 6-1, 6-2 victory. At the No. 5 position, Marc Collado (Barcelona, Spain) overcame Amer Bedwan 6-4, 7-5. Both Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) and Ben Lieb (Newtown Square, Pa.) played well for the Lions in singles today as well.
"Today was a big win for our program," said head coach Jeff Zinn following today's tournament action. "To lose the doubles point on an injury to one of your players is something that has not happened in all my years of coaching. We had momentum and then to have all the air taken out of you is hard to come back from. But, we regrouped and told the players that everyone had to step up to get the "W" today. They responded well to the situation and pulled out a win against the very talented Troy team. This win puts us in the finals of the tournament tomorrow morning against University of South Florida."
"The guys pulled it together today after a tough doubles loss when Henry [Gordon] fell and defaulted," said associate head coach Paul Tobin. "After the tough loss during College MatchDay against UCF, our guys knew that we needed to get this win, and everyone pulled through for us."
Today's win puts the Lions in the finals of this spring break South Florida Tournament. They will face the University of South Florida tomorrow, Saturday, March 11 at 11:00 a.m. for the tournament victory.
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Doubles Results
1. Antonopoulos/Kohan (PSU) def. Baldo/Belcora (TROY), 6-4
2. Lau/Moreno (TROY) def. Dolidze/Gordon (PSU), 5-5, retired
3. Ndayishimiye/Mansson (TROY) def. Lutschaunig/Nemeth (PSU), 6-3
Singles Results
1. Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU) def. Hassan Ndayishimiye (TROY), 6-3, 7-5
2. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) def. Andy Lau (TROY), 6-3, 2-6, 6-1
3. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Pablo Moreno (TROY), 6-1, 6-2
4. Mustapha Belcora (TROY) vs. Aws Laaribi (PSU), 6-2, 4-6, 4-4, unfinished
5. Marc Collado (PSU) def. Amer Bedwan (TROY), 6-4, 7-5
6. Jaiqi Duan (TROY) vs. Ben Lieb (PSU), 6-4, 6-7 (0-5), 0-1, unfinished