April 9, 2017 - UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; The Penn State men's tennis team defeated Indiana this afternoon for the first time since the 2008 season with a final score of Penn State 5, Indiana 2 at the Sarni Tennis Center in Happy Valley. The Hoosiers came to Penn State this weekend with an ITA ranking of 45.
The Nittany Lions secured the doubles point today with two straight wins. Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) and Nika Dolidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) paired at No. 3 and took down Indiana's Crane/Brodney team 6-2. Christos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece) and David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) teamed up at No. 2 to defeat Cembellin/Lugonjic, 6-4.
Singles panned out in favor of the blue and white this afternoon as well. Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) defeated Raheel Manji at No. 1 6-4, 7-6. At No. 2,Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) took down Antonio Cembellin, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Christos Antonopoulos defeated Matthew McCoy 7-6, 6-4 at No. 3. Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) took a 6-0, 2-6, 6-4 win over Keivon Tabrizi at No. 4.
"We've had so many close matches this year," commented head coach Jeff Zinn after the first match of the day. "All it takes is one good match to get over the proverbial hump. If you look back now you see how well the University of Central Florida is doing now, they're in the top 25, we've had Michigan, a top 20 team, we've had the University of Pennsylvania, they're a good team too. There have been so many that would have helped us with our younger guys' confidence. For [Christian] Lakoseljac and Constant [De La Bassetiere] and Christos [Antonopoulos] ââ'¬" for them to win, that's what we've been waiting for."
"This is a huge win for the boys!" said associate head coach Paul Tobin this afternoon. "The weather was perfect and it was good to see a nice crowd. We needed this win to gain some momentum going into the next two home matches against Wisconsin and Minnesota. [Christian] Lakoseljac pulled out a great win, taking the third set in his match. Constant [De La Bassetiere] and Christos [Antonopoulos] did a great job holding their own as well."
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Doubles Results:
1. Bassetiere/Lakoseljac (PSU) vs. Manji/Tabrizi (IND), 4-5, unfinished
2. Kohan/Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Cembellin/Lugonjic (IND), 6-4
3. Lutschaunig/Dolidze (PSU) def. Crane/Brodney (IND), 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2
Singles Results:
1. Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU) def. Raheel Manji (IND), 6-4, 7-6
2. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) def. Antonio Cembellin (IND), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
3. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Matthew McCoy (IND), 7-6, 6-4
4. Aws Laaribi (PSU) def. Keivon Tabrizi (IND), 6-0, 2-6, 6-4
5. Bennett Crane (IND) def. Ben Lieb (PSU), 6-4, 6-2
6. Oliver Sec (IND) def. Marc Collado (PSU), 7-6, 6-3
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 2, 4, 3, 1