April 16, 2017 - UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; April 16, 2017 ââ'¬" The Penn State men's tennis team hosted Monmouth N.J. this afternoon to close out their home slate. This is the second match in the Nittany Lions' sixth and final home court double-header of the season.
Penn State secured the doubles point with wins on all three courts. At No. 3, David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) and Gabriel Nemeth (Brasilia, Brazil) paired to take down Christian Vierira and Vikrant Dahiya 6-0. At No. 2, Zach Lieb (Newtown Square, Pa.) and Matt Galush (Cary, N.C.) defeated Nicola Pipoli and Alberto Giuffrida 6-3. At No. 1, Nika Dolidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) and Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) won 7-6 over Przemyslaw Filipek and Ale Gomez.
Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) defeated Nicola Pipoli 6-3, 6-4. Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) topped Przemyslaw Filipek 7-5, 6-2. Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) was victorious over Ale Gomez, with a 6-3, 6-4 result. Christos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece) defeated Christian Vierira 6-3, 6-0. Zach Lieb defeated Alerbert Giuffrida 6-2, 6-3. To close out today's match, Gabriel Nemeth defeated Sergio Martinez 7-6, 6-1.
"It's funny how our fortunes can change in a day, from Friday night," commented head coach Jeff Zinn. "I had a feeling that my team was either going to do two things today ââ'¬" either we were going to fall flat on our face, or we were going to compete like we haven't all year, thank goodness we did the latter. We had great energy the whole match, starting in doubles, we were down match point in doubles and came back to win the tiebreaker against a very good Minnesota team. On senior day I am really proud of my five graduating seniors, this match exemplified exactly what they've been for four years. They fought hard, some of them won, some barely lost, but their effort never changed. We will play two of the top teams in the Big Ten next weekend, and our fortunes ride on those - both with Big Ten seeding and post-season aspirations. All we can do is keep doing what we've been doing. We have good practices and good team chemistry, and we need to keep fighting like we did today."
"Minnesota was a huge confidence win for the boys!" said associate head coach Paul Tobin. "Beating No. 31 ranked Minnesota on our last home match of the season, and senior day, it was a great way to spend Easter Sunday. The guys pulled off a spectacular doubles point, closing out the tiebreaker at the No. 1 position. We got a little lucky with some doubles faults from Minnesota, and then [Christian] Lakoseljac bombed an ace. Despite the 3-0 lead, it looked like we were going to see battles on four singles courts. Great job to Christos [Antonopoulos] for clinching the match, and Constant [De La Bassetiere] who got his win not too far behind. We are looking forward to our road trip this coming weekend, and hopefully we can continue to feed on this momentum."
The Lions next matches will be two Big Ten matches on the road in Illinois. On Friday, April 21, they will travel to Illinois for a 3:00 p.m. CT contest. On Sunday, April 23, they will head to Northwestern for a 10:30 a.m. EST match.
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. Dolidze/Lutschaunig (PSU) def. Filipek/Gomez (MON), 7-6
2. Z. Lieb/Galush (PSU) def. Pipoli/Giuffrida (MON), 6-3
3. Kohan/Nemeth (PSU) def. Vierira/Dahiya (MON), 6-0
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles Results:
1. Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU) def. Nicola Pipoli (MON), 6-3, 6-4
2. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) def. Przemyslaw Filipek (MON), 7-5, 6-2
3. Aws Laaribi (PSU) def. Ale Gomez (MON), 6-3, 6-4
4. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Christian Vierira (MON), 6-3, 6-0
5. Zach Lieb (PSU) def. Alberto Giuffrida (MON), 6-2, 6-3
6. Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) def. Sergio Martinez (MON), 7-6, 6-1
Order of Finish: 4, 2, 3, 1, 5, 6