March 25, 2017 - UNIVERISTY PARK, Pa.; The Penn State men's tennis team took on the Michigan Wolverines at Sarni Tennis Center yesterday evening. The Lions played well throughout but were unable to clinch the victory, falling to Michigan 4-3.
The Lions secured the doubles point early with wins on courts two and three. Christos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece) and David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) combined forces on court two to take down Alex Knight and Runhao Hua in a 6-4 show. Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) and Ben Lieb (Newtown Square, Pa.) paired on court three to defeat Gabe Tishman and Connor Johnston 6-3. Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) and Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) were paired on court one and were up 5-3 against Kevin Womg and Jathan Malik when the doubles point was won.
Singles competition was a battle for the Nittany Lions with the match tied at three all after the first five sets. Marc Collado (Barcelona, Spain) brought in the first singles point for the Lions with a 6-3, 6-3 match. Christian Lakoseljac came up with the second singles win against Myles Schalet, defeating the Wolverine 1-6, 6-2, 6-3. Constant De La Bassetiere fought hard into a third set against Michigan's Jathan Malik but came up empty handed in a 7-6, 6-3, 4-6 match result.
"Wow, what a match!!" exclaimed head coach Jeff Zinn following competition. "It was one of the few times in Penn State men's tennis history that we were able to play under our lights outside at Sarni ââ'¬" I don't know how many times Mother Nature has allowed that, but it can't be many. It was a lot of fun even though we didn't get the win. Our team played really well last night and showed that all the hard work in practice is starting to pay off, we are slowly getting better and need to finish these close matches in our favor. We need to keep doing what we are doing because we are on the right track and hopefully we can play like this for the rest of the Big Ten season."
"The guys certainly stepped up against No. 9ranked Michigan," said associate head coach Paul Tobin. "They did exactly what we needed them to do in doubles and it payed off. Losses are always disappointing and this one certainly stings. Constant had a lot of pressure with the match score tied at 3-3 and going into a third set. If we can play this way consistently moving forward, we will have plenty more opportunities to get in the rankings."
The Lions next matches will be a double header on Sunday, March 26. Penn State will host Penn at 12:00 pm and NJIT at 4:00 pm at the Indoor Tennis Center.
Keep up with the Penn State men's tennis team at GoPSUsports.com. For continued updates throughout the year, make sure to `like' our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatemten and follow our twitter @pennstateMTEN!
Doubles Results:
1. Bassetiere/Lakoseljac (PSU) vs. Wong/Malik (MICH), 5-4, unfinished
2. Antonopoulos/Kohan (PSU) def. Knight/Hua (MICH), 6-4
3. Laaribi/Lieb (PSU) def. Tishman/Johnston (MICH), 6-3
Order of Finish: 2, 3
Singles Results:
1. Jathan Malik (MICH) def. Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU), 7-6, 3-6, 6-4
2. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) def. Myles Schalet (MICH), 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
3. Alex Knight (MICH) def. Aws Laaribi (PSU), 6-3, 6-4
4. Runhao Hua (MICH) def. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU), 6-2, 6-0
5. Marc Collado (PSU) def. Kevin Wong (MICH), 6-3, 6-3
6. Carter Lin (MICH) def. Ben Lieb (PSU), 6-4, 7-6
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 3, 2, 6, 1