March 2, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State men's tennis took on the No. 39 Western Michigan Broncos at the Indoor Tennis Center today. The Lions fought hard throughout the evening and came out victorious upsetting the Broncos, 4-3.
In doubles, the team went 2-1. Constant De La Bassetiere's (Reims, France) net play and Christian Lakoseljac's (King City, Ontario) precision shots led the duo to a 6-4 win over Maik Steiner and Lenhard Haupt. Gabriel Nemeth (Brasilia, Brazil) and Matt Galush (Cary, N.C.) were down initially but fought their way back knocking off Nick Schnobel and Eric Olivarez 7-6 (5). Christos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece) and Alp Sentay (Izmar, Turkey) lost in a tough match against Jannik Opitz and Kennosuke Nouchi, 6-1.
The team battled in singles going 3-3. On court one, Lakoseljac's serve dominated No. 88 Steiner, which led to his 7-5, 6-2 win over his ranked opponent. De La Bassetiere outmatched Nouchi walking away with 6-1, 6-1 win. Galush clinched the match for the Lions with a service ace against Olivarez giving him a 7-5, 6-4 win. Nemeth was in a tightly contested match with Haupt, but lost, 6-4, 6-4. Antonopoulos fell to Opitz, 6-4, 6-1. Sentay lost a close match to Matej Svjetlicic 6-2, 6-4.
"That was a quality win against a tough, top-40 ranked opponent," said head coach Jeff Zinn. "Gabriel and Matt coming back in doubles to clinch the point was huge for us. We haven't gotten to play many matches at home and we're typically pretty good at home so it was nice to get the win. This is the perfect way to kick off our spring break."
"We pulled out a close match against a solid team that shot up in the rankings," said associate head coach Paul Tobin. "I thought we could breathe a little easier once we took the doubles point, but that wasn't the case. It came down to Matt Galush pulling out the win, playing for the first time in a lineup position. I'm looking forward to starting our outdoor season."
The Lions are now 6-5 on the season and remain undefeated at home. The team is back in action Wednesday, March 7 when they travel to Orlando, Fla. to take on UCF at 6 p.m.
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Doubles Results:
1. Christian Lakoseljac/Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU) def. Maik Steiner/Lenhard Haupt (WMU) 6-4
2. Jannik Opitz/Kennosuke Nouchi (WMU) def. Christos Antonopoulos/Alp Sentay (PSU) 6-1
3. Gabriel Nemeth/Matt Galush (PSU) def. Nick Schnobel/Eric Olivarez (WMU) 7-6 (5)
Order of finish 2, 1, 3
Singles Results:
1. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) def. No. 88 Maik Steiner (WMU) 7-5, 6-2
2. No. 99 Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU) def. Kennosuke Nouchi (WMU) 6-1, 6-1
3. Jannik Opitz (WMU) def. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) 6-4, 6-1
4. Lenhard Haupt (WMU) def. Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Matej Svjetlicic (WMU) def. Alp Sentay (PSU) 6-2, 6-4
6. Matt Galush (PSU) def. Eric Olivarez (WMU) 7-5, 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1, 4, 5, 6